Two Kings, Two Queens and a Guardian
by Xx Elemental Angel xX
Summary: A girl hit by a car and four siblings destined for thrones meet each other in Narnia before the Battle of Beruna. They learn new skills and make new friends, but with an upcoming war that decides Narnia's fate, anything can happen. In Narnia, nothing is ever impossible...
1. Prologue

**A/N Hi everybody! I would like to start off my FIRST EVER fanfic story from my favourite series: The Chronicles of Narnia. I hope you guys like it!**** I own nothing (sobs) apart from Rachel and any OC's that make an appearance. I also own anything unrecognizable. All credit goes to the genius that is C.S Lewis. **

The ancient scriptures told us of how Aslan made Narnia. They told us of the past, present and future. These documents were the only thing that kept the Narnians hoping for the prophesied Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve when the White Witch ruled Narnia. It also shows another Daughter of Eve. She is known throughout Narnia as it's Guardian, a figure that is always female to protect Narnia. When Jadis of Charn invaded Narnia one hundred long years ago, the first person she wanted to get rid of was the Guardian, as she was the only person in her way to total dominance.

The two faced an epic battle together, and before the Witch could kill the Guardian, the spirits and magic descended from the first Guardian reacted with the dark magic within Jadis. The chain of Guardians before lent the present Guardian their power, as it only activated when the Guardian was in the presence of dark magic or they were in grave danger. The magic gave the Guardian the opportunity to go to the human world, where she would find a husband and have a baby girl.

She accepted, and abandoned Narnia. That was when the first snowflakes fell, and Narnia was in Jadis' icy grasp. A hundred years in Narnia past, and ten in the human world also past. The old Guardian now had a wonderful husband and a beautiful ten year old daughter. Then tragedy struck. Jadis had found her, and took her back to Narnia, torturing her and leaving her daughter without a mother and her husband without a wife.

Little did Jadis know that she had a daughter and that girl would return to Narnia and fight in the Battle of Beruna. It wouldn't be easy for the young Guardian, she would face many challenges about herself and her friends. Although, the hardest was yet to come, with two future kings fighting for her heart, she would have to make the hardest decision a girl could face. Join Rachel, on her quest to find out who her mother really was, the Great Battle and who she decides her heart belongs to.

**A/N ****Any reviews would be MASSIVELY appreciated since it is my first story. Comments or criticism are also appreciated so I can work on my writing. Thank you wonderful Fanfic people!**

**Xx Elemental Angel xX**


	2. Chapter 1  One weird Day

**A/N Hey guys! I'm back with a new chapter! Wow, two chapters in one day! My brain is fried! Once again, I own nothing apart from Rachel and anything unrecognisable. Although I wish I did! **

Chapter One- One weird day

Ok. I didn't think that my life could get any stranger. Until today. First, my incredibly embarrassing aunt and uncle actually let me get to school with minimum public humiliation. Then, I kept seeing a picture in my head of a castle and a four people. Weird. When I arrived at school, the popular girls looked at me and laughed. Nothing much different there.

Just because I don't have bleach blonde hair, an inch of make-up on my face and a skirt which could qualify as a belt. I don't have a lot of money, but I make the most of it. It also means that I don't have a lot of high fashion clothes. As if I care!

They call themselves 'St. Wallowfield babes.' Original (?) They probably think I'm weird because my grandmother is an Enchantress. So am I. they know this because A. I carry spell books around with me all the time and B. My grandmother cast a rather nasty spell on a piece of grass outside my school. It's never grown back.

Also, they probably think I'm an over achiever, as I am captain of the local hockey team, the archery team and regional gymnastics champion. I also play basketball and football outside of school.

Plus, even though they didn't know this, my family is very oriental. My dad is Welsh but he moved to Northern Ireland when he was six, and my mum was born in England. When my dad got a work promotion, we moved to Japan. I was three years old. In Japan, almost everyone learns a martial art. For some crazy reason, I chose an art that didn't really fit into a category. It was called 'the masters path.' I studied this art for six years.

Before I left Japan, I obviously had to give up being a martial artist. I had achieved my masters 'mark of approval' and I became a fully realized martial artist. The only thing is, I can't tell anyone that I'm a master. Or at least, in this world. When my master told me this, I didn't understand, but I just went along with it. Therefore, I took up gymnastics as my masters training helped me to become agile, swift and very skilled using gymnastics to fight.

But three years after we returned, my mother disappeared. No one knows how but she just went out one day and never came back. So its just been me and dad for the past few years.

So I won't go into too much detail about school (because it's boring) but, as I was coming out of school I was going across the road and a car came round the corner very fast and , well, I don't remember much about it. All I can recall is the impact of it hitting my right side then nothing but black.

I woke up with a pounding in my head and I expected to be on a hospital bed. But I wasn't because I was lying in a forest. I got up, slowly because of my head, and I saw some sort of hovering light from somewhere.

I stumbled towards it and finally, I was out of the forest. The light then flew towards a hill, and there was a castle on it. The same one I saw in my head.

I kept walking and finally I reached the castle. Then the light stopped for a minute and came towards me. The light dies down and there was this fairy on my shoulder. It whispered in my ear, "You're lost aren't you?" I nodded numbly.

"Well you are in Narnia, my friend." I just stood there, barely making out the words she was saying.

"You're tired aren't you?" I nodded mechanically again. "Well go to sleep, dear one, and I'll tell you more when you awaken." I did as I was told, and I fell on the ground, asleep.

When I woke up, I was again in another location. 'Ugh! Why can't I wake up in the same place I fell asleep?' I thought to my self angrily. I sat up slowly, although the pain in my head was still there, it had subsided slightly.

There were four people in front of me, two male, two female. They looked slightly shocked as I sat up, but then the youngest one, a female, came over to where I lay. She was dressed in royal robes but didn't look more than ten. She asked me,

"Who are you?" she had an English accent, like me. I replied,

"Rachel. Rachel Elfin."

**A/N So we finally get going with this story! Ooohhh cliffy! Tell me what you guys think about the story so far, and if you can, please leave me a little review! Pretty please? Make me happy!**

**Xx Elemental Angel xX**


	3. Chapter 2 Narnia

**A/N Why hello again my lovely readers! I have already gotten a few reviews and you have made sooooo happy! Thank you for your support so far, and if you have a spare second, please, please give me your thoughts on this story! Thanks again! I own nothing. I wish I did though. **

Small Dark One and princess emma of narnia, as a thank you for your reviews so far, this chapter is dedicated to you. :D

Chapter Two ~ Narnia

"Ok then, Rachel. What are you doing in Narnia?" the eldest boy asked me.

"Well, I was coming out of school, and then a car came rushing round the corner and hit me. Then, I woke up here."

"We came through a wardrobe. We ended up here by accident. And now, we've travelled from that place to here, where we've found ourselves in the middle of a battle, between us and the White Witch."

"Who's the White Witch?" I asked them.

"She's the one who made Narnia winter for a hundred years. It was always winter, never Christmas." explained the youngest one.

"Well, I don't see any snow here." I pointed out.

"That's us. We were part of a prophecy that the Narnians' had, and so we made the seasons change. That is why we're at war with her."

They looked a little bit upset, so I tried to change the subject.

"So, who's who?" The oldest girl spoke up. "I'm Susan, and I'm fifteen." She was really pretty, with her wavy brown hair and piercing blue eyes.

The youngest one spoke next "I'm Lucy and I'm eleven." She had short brown hair and blue eyes.

The oldest one spoke, "I'm Peter and I'm sixteen." He had caramel blonde hair and once again, had blue eyes. Although they weren't piercing like his sisters, they were soft and kind. My stomach did a back-flip as he grabbed my hand and kissed it. "Pleased to meet your acquaintance." He said, smiling at me. I couldn't help but blush. He was VERY good looking.

Edmund scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Peter, don't act like you're a gentleman, you're just flirting with her 'cause you think she's pretty." Edmund smirked.

"I do not!" Peter said in a very unconvincing tone, causing me to blush and him to look away.

"That's Edmund and he's fourteen." Lucy rolled her eyes.

He was different to his brother and sisters, because he had brown eyes instead of blue. He had curly short brown hair; the complete opposite of Peter. When I looked into his eyes, I saw pain and bitterness, but then there was a fire of determination in his eyes as well. Instead of my stomach doing a back-flip like it had with Peter, I felt warm all over. The colour came back into my cheeks.

Susan stepped forward. "Edmund, stop it! We all know you and Peter were looking at her smitten before she woke up." She crossed her arms and laughed along with Lucy.

"Oi!" shouted Edmund and Peter, both with red in their cheeks, above the laughter of their siblings. I start laughing along with them as well.

"So, this means that you're going to be staying here?" asked Edmund.

I ponder over this for a minute. It hadn't crossed my mind yet, but hearing it put into words brought home the harsh reality that I was not going back to Britain. I was staying in a strange world where I knew nothing about apart from the four people in front me who were now elbowing him and tutting at the rudeness of their brother.

A sudden thought makes me scramble off the bed. "What are you looking for?" asked Lucy.

"My bag! Have you seen it?" I asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I think we left it with the fairy you brought with you." answered Peter.

"A fairy?" I ask, feeling my facial expression change.

"You know, Sparky." said Edmund.

"Oh! You mean the light that brought me here." I said a bit too enthusiastically.

"Yeah! I'm telling you now that it wasn't easy getting you in here." said Edmund.

I lightly punched on the arm, smiling. When he smiled back, I recognised him from the image in my head. I gasped.

"What's wrong?" asked Edmund.

"Edmund, I know this is going to sound crazy but before I came here, I kept seeing this flashing image of a castle and you. In fact, it was all of you."

He looked kind of surprised when he heard this but calmly said, "It was probably Narnia talking to you before you," he clears his throat before he said "came here."

I gave him a small grin when he said this, but I remembered my spell book.

"Could someone please take me to my bag? I need to check something." They look at me, puzzled, before Susan speaks up.

"Well, you can't be seen with royalty with those clothes on!"

I looked down at myself. She was right because I looked a mess! My uniform was torn and dirty and my face was probably not much better.

"Don't you think I look hot?" I said sarcastically, striking a fake model pose, causing them to snigger slightly.

"Ok, let's go get you some new clothes and a bath hopefully!" said Lucy. She was so young yet she had so much responsibility.

"Ok let's go!" I shouted, grabbing Lucy's hand, as she took me outside, laughing the whole way. We ran up a hill to a tent, presumably the bathhouse.

Suddenly, I stopped. "Is this Narnia?" I asked the little girl. "Well of course it is!" I stayed silent as I took it in. Narnia was beautiful. The land was so green and lush, the trees were tall and there were no patches of deforestation. The sky was beautifully coloured due to the setting sun.

There were barely any clouds, and they were just whisps at that. The sea was never ending, and it was sparkling and tinged red, again by the sun. I could see the castle form my dream on the horizon, the glass in the windows twinkling.

"It's beautiful." I whispered.

"I know."

She was about to say something else before Susan finally caught up with us.

"Lucy! You know better than to just run off like that!" she scolded her sister.

"It's okay Susan, It was my fault." Silence descended on us.

"So where am I meant to be going?" I asked them.

"Oh! Let's go this way." said Susan, taking the lead.

When we finally arrived at the dressmakers tent, the door was lying wide open. A faun was sitting by a desk talking to a rat.

"Hello Tornieus!" called Susan.

"Ah, your majesties!" he said bowing, "how may I be of service?"

"Actually, it's for my friend Rachel. She needs clothes made for her." He studied me carefully.

"Ah! I just need a few measurements."

He took his tape and measured the length of my arms, legs, waist and then he finished.

"So I take it you will be needing the clothes quickly, then?" he questioned Susan.

"Yes, and if possible, I would like it made before she comes out of her bath."

"Okay! I'd better hop to it then! Boys, chop chop!" he said before closing the door.

"Alright then. Rachel, we'll take you to the bath house now."

"Yay!" I shouted, "I like being clean!" Lucy laughed while Susan smiled.

Lucy whispered in my ear. "You know, we weren't lying back where you woke up. They both where looking at you earnestly. Plus, they both started talking about you when you were asleep, but we pretended not to hear."

I held my head up high, "Well. I have only just got here, and no boy is going to prevent me from getting to know you and Susan. Is it not awkward that both of your brother's like a girl you've just met?"

"Not really. I mean, you learn to get past the awkwardness of any girl a brother likes. Plus I never really know them, or like them for that matter. You however, I could learn to like."

I blushed lightly at this statement. "How do you know you'll like me?"

"Easy! It's because I like you already, and I think Susan does as well. Susan's hard to make friends with, so I hope we'll all get along!" she smiled.

"Should I not be getting my bath by now?" I asked the little girl.

"Ah! Yes. I think it should be ready by now."

She lead me to the correct one, and I jumped straight into it, thinking about the two boys that I had just met and yet, I already felt the bonds between us. Susan and Lucy on the other hand, well, I felt a friendship blossom almost immediately. I knew that in time we would be as close as sisters.

I sank beneath the hot soapy water. It was an amazing feeling, the warm water relaxing sore muscles. I continued to scrub at the filth on my body, using the lotions and potions around the bathtub. I continued to think about the four people I'd grown quite fond of, even though I hardly knew them.

**A/N Well? What do ya think? I'd love to hear your opinion, good or bad! And princess emma of Narnia, I updated as quickly as I could! I should have another one up either today or tomorrow! **

**Again, please review! **

**Xx Elemental Angel xX**


	4. Chapter 3 Royalty?

**I own nothing. (cries) C.S Lewis is the incredible man behind the incredible works. **

**I'm going to dedicate this chapter to Milk 'n' Cookies Bookworm and IrishZombiesrawr :D On with the show!**

Chapter Three ~ Royalty?

So after I had my bath (the water was very dirty in the end), I came out of the bathroom to find a new dress for me on a small table just outside the door. Since no one else was there, I took it and put it on. It was in a beautiful shade of red with ornate gold details on it. It was a two-piece, so I put the top half on first.

It had long plain red sleeves and gold details over the torso. It was low, but not daringly low. The skirt part was plain red with gold details at the hem. It was also good, because it covered up my mark.

I haven't gone into much detail about my mark, so I'll tell you about it. It's a very ornate cross, and I wanted it to be but sometimes, it glows. I don't know how and I don't know when, but it does. When I left Japan, my master did not only give me the mark, but a necklace and a charm bracelet with only one charm on it. He said, "Never take them off."

I took what he said and I haven't taken them off in the four years I was given them. The only good thing about my mark, is that it isn't like a tattoo. It doesn't show up on my skin unless it's glowing. Well anyway, back to the dress. The skirt was plain red, and the hem was gold.

There was a plain pair of red pumps for me to wear as well. I slipped them on and they were a perfect fit. But I was wondering: how am I going to get the back of this dress laced up?

"Do you need any help?" came a voice from the door. I turned around and saw Lucy standing there.

"If I would be alright, your majesty." She came in and started lacing it up.

"Please tell me if it's too tight Rachel."

I nodded.

"Oh, and please come and have breakfast with us too. We have some questions to ask you."

"Yes your majesty."

"Oh please don't address us like that! We get enough of that from everyone else."

I chuckled slightly. When she had finished, she took my hand again and took me round so many tents and creatures that my head started to spin.

Finally she stopped at a big red and gold tent and gestured for me to go in. I pushed it open (and it didn't surprise me that it was heavy) and I walked in. A huge dining room was in front of me. There was an extremely long wooden table, a few pictures on the walls and the chairs were made of the same wood that the table was.

I saw the three older Pevensies sitting at the other end of the table. I walked up to where they were sitting and sat down next to Edmund.

"… and that's how the stag got away!" he finished saying.

"Yeah right! It got away because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time!" exclaimed Peter. This made Susan laugh and Edmund blush a bit.

"So Rachel, what do you think of the dress?"

"Well," I started off, "it's definitely something I wouldn't wear in England!"

"Well I think it suits you. The red goes really great with your dark hair." She finished saying.

"So Rachel," spoke Peter, "do you have any special skills?"

I knew exactly what I was going to say. "Well, I play hockey, football and basketball. I have been practicing archery for four years and I've also been practicing martial arts for six. I'm also a gymnast."

"Well, Ed and I were wondering if you wouldn't mind, would you like to join us for training in the practice grounds later?"

"Yeah of course. I'd love to! But on two conditions. One, please call me Rach and two, don't talk to me as formally. It feels like there's a barrier between us, because I feel like if you keep doing it, then we'll never be comfortable in a normal conversation."

"Well I agree with that, what about you Pete?"

"Fine with me."

"So what time do you want me to meet you outside at?" Peter and Edmund looked at each other for a minute.

"About half past eleven." said Peter eventually.

When Peter had finished saying this, breakfast was served. While I was eating, Susan dropped a bombshell.

"Oh, and just in case anyone asks who you are, you're a very close friend to us and you're going to be crowned in a few months."

I was drinking my water at the time and I nearly choked.

"You mean that I'm a going to be a princess?"

"Well, a pretend one. For now. We'll have to talk to Aslan about that."

"Aslan? Who's Aslan?" I asked them, baffled.

"Aslan is the King over the entire country of Narnia. He created this country apparently. Don't worry, he's really nice, but you have to remember that he is a wild animal."

After I finished breakfast, I got up and left the tent. Little did I know that I didn't know where I was going until Lucy caught up with me!

Peter's point of view

She came into my life and… made my stomach full of butterflies. I don't know how but… she's different from other girls back in England. Usually I'd have a flock of girls following me around at school but none of them have made me feel the way that she does. They were chasing me, now I'm chasing her. Why does she make me feel so… so funny inside? Is it the way she smiles all the time, or her laugh? The way she hides behind her glossy black hair to prevent someone seeing her blush? The way she is so lively and fun to be around? The way she takes on anything without complaint and shows bravery in the face of danger? Or the way you can tell how she's feeling through her eyes. Those hazel eyes that when you were really close to her, you could see the greeny-blue accented with copper brown… I think I'm in love with her.

Edmund's point of view

The day we found her was the day that something inside me moved. I was so cold and bitter to everyone else, even my own siblings! I was retreating back into my own shell since I came back from the White Witch's camp until she showed up. She's made me happier than I have been in a long time. It's an amazing feeling having her around with me, in fact all of us. She's even made Susan smile! Now that is the sign of someone special! But… I know my brother likes her. Huh, Saint Peter! The perfect brother! The one who everybody likes, the one that's great at everything he does. The one that I've been put in the shadow of since I was born! Peter is just… PERFECT! She would obviously pick Pete over me, but… I can't ignore this feeling. But what is it? Is it her beautiful eyes? Or her unforgettable smile? The sound of her laughter that plays through your head for ages? The way her heart is pure and brave, unlike mine which is corrupt and cowardly. Or the way she just enjoys life and being around us? I think… I think I'm in love with her.

**A/N Wow! Looks like we have got ourselves some sibling rivalry on our hands! So many people have seen my story, and they're from the USA, Brazil Taiwan etc. It makes me think about how big the world is! So that's why my next chapter is going to be dedicated to those who are so far way from me in Northern Ireland! I've also discovered that no matter were you live, no matter how far apart you are from each other, writing can unite people. So thanks, and leave me a little review if you want too :D they are greatly appreciated!**


	5. Chapter 4  Training

**Hello again! I'm just here to say, that this will probably be the only update today because I'm very busy! I promise, that if I get some reviews, I promise to update tomorrow :D. Once again, I own nothing. Oh, and I dedicate this chapter to everyone who has read this story :D **

Chapter Four ~ Training

When I finally found my tent, from the very moment I set eyes on it, I could tell that it was bigger than a lot of the other tents, and it was white with red and gold details instead of the usual red. When I entered it, the size and the furniture in it overwhelmed me.

It was bigger than a tennis court and the ceiling was higher than my house! The tent's lining was white with elaborate details, and at the front of the bed was a huge chest. The bed had four posters with curtains bunched up at the back two posts. The top of the bed was covered in expensive pillows.

"So this is your room. I hope its ok for you."

"Are you serious? Are you being SERIOUS!" I exclaimed in disbelief.

I was very excited about having this much space to move around. My old home in Twenty-First century London was nowhere near the size of this! I had barely any room to move around in my little box room, and now I had enough space to throw a party! I hugged Lucy tightly.

"Thank you very much." I said in awe.

"Oh, and the stuff that came with you is on your bed."

"Thanks so much. Are you coming to watch the training session today?"

"I wouldn't miss it! I'm rooting for you Rachie!"

"Thanks Lu. See you later." I watched her leave before something suddenly struck me.

"Lu?"

"Yes?" she answered,

"Can I ask you to do two things for me?"

"What do you want me to do?"

"Well, since I'm new to Narnia, I need some new training clothes. And the other thing is, I need some weapons…."

At half eleven, I saw Edmund and Peter sparring. They weren't holding back! You could tell by the ferocity of their sword strokes. Even from where I was standing, I could see the sweat on their foreheads. The area where they were practicing was a piece of grass just bigger than a football pitch and a wooden fence sectioned it off. There were four flags with a red lion on them dotted around the field.

In the past few hours, I had gone to the royal weapon maker and had some… surprises made, and I had made my own training clothes. The torso bit was tight, black and long sleeved. I had found some elbow length black leather fingerless gloves with steel plating from the wrist up.

I had a pair of leggings on (black obviously) with a short black skirt on top. The shoes were black and were ballet-like. My curly black hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and two pieces of hair at the sides my of my face were fastened with two Narnian-style hair clips. My necklace and bracelet were also present.

When I came in arena, they stopped. I kept walking towards them when Peter walked away from Edmund and when I finally met up with Edmund, I asked him where he was going.

"He had to go to a meeting. Apparently, I'm not 'big' enough to handle it."

"It doesn't surprise me. I wouldn't trust you with a cutlery knife, never mind the law or whatever the meeting's about." He scowled while I chuckled slightly.

"So," he replied after a little while, "Are we going to stand here like idiots or are we going to train?"

"Well I'm here anyway, so I guess we'll start now."

"Hmmm, Alright." He replied, while I shrugged my shoulders as if it wasn't very important.

We took our positions, facing each other with ten paces distance between us. He started first, charging at me with his sword out stretched. I just stood there, waiting, watching, until the time was right. I dodged out of the way and stuck my leg out, causing him to fall over.

I just stood there idle until he found his feet again. He got up and lunged again, which I dodged swiftly. He lunged a final time before I took action. I jumped up high, went flying towards Edmund, stuck one foot out and kicked him. I used the energy off the rebound to do a back flip and I landed neatly on the ground.

I got up but I felt like someone was behind me. I turned around and saw Peter standing there. He grinned at me and unsheathed his sword.

"You didn't think I'd let my brother lose to a girl, would you?" All I did was smile.

I was side on between two boys, armed and dangerous.

"Game on." I said, teasingly.

It was time too bring out my secret weapons. In between the steel plate and the leather of my gloves were the knives and various other sharp throwing objects.

I sneaked them out carefully so they wouldn't see them. When I had one in each hand, I threw them at their feet, rendering them incapable of moving their feet for a minute and giving me time to work my magic. Literally.

I remembered a spell that would give me the power of levitation, well, moderately. I jumped higher than humanly possible, into the sun so they wouldn't see me coming. I nosed dived, and very quickly at that. I forward flipped, again and again. Then my feet made contact with Peter's sword, knocking it out of his hand.

With the movement of the flipping, the contact made his sword spin away from him. Edmund was gradually backing away, so since Peter was attempting to stop his head from spinning, I thought that it was time to have some fun. I pretended to not know he was there until I heard him right behind me.

I whirled round to face him when I saw he had his sword raised, so when he brought it down, I crossed my arms above my head, so that the blow hit the steel plating. Then I started with my hand to hand combat. I kicked at his sword making him lose a bit of balance. I kept punching and kicking his sword, making his blocks useless because I was too quick.

I used the knives again, one in my left hand, one in my right. I kicked one last time to get it out of his hand before throwing them at his feet, leaving them stuck to the ground. As he squirmed and struggled, he lost his balance and fell to the ground. Another chance to use my knives.

I pinned his arms down with another two knives and when he was rendered incapable of moving, I got down on the ground next to him and put a knife to his throat. I kept a steady gaze on him but then realized my face was surprisingly close to his.

Some colour began to creep into his cheeks and I felt it sneak in to mine. I got up, blushing, when I saw Peter running towards me, sword in hand. I was surprised when I saw him, and all I could do was dodge out of the way.

However, while I was dodging, I tripped over Edmunds' leg and I fell to the ground and hit my head off something very hard. Everything went black.

**A/N Another cliffy! Muhahahaha! I'm so mean to you guys lol. There's a little button I would like you to press: the review button! So please give me your thoughts and ideas, as they are very much appreciated!**


	6. Chapter 5 Waking up

**A/N Well looky here! Another chapter is up and ready to read! I promised you guys another chapter today if I got more reviews, so here it is! Just a note to say, progress on this story might be a little bit slow, but I hope that your reviews will inspire me to write more! Please review! Also, do you think I should add in their time as rulers of Narnia or go straight to Prince Caspian? Please let me know! I own nothing except Rachel and anything unrecognisable.**

Chapter Five ~ Waking up

"What happened?"

"I was pinned to the ground by her knives and Pete came charging at her. She tripped over my leg and hit her head off a flat stone in the ground."

I could hear hushed voices talking.

"What happened? Did I hurt some thing?" I thought to myself.

A throbbing entered my head as soon as I ended that last sentence. "I just had to ask didn't I?" I told myself, "didn't Mum tell you that curiosity killed the cat?" I laughed inwardly as I remembered the conversation.

A shooting pain went through my skull, causing me to hiss when I breathed in.

"Shh! She's waking up!" I heard Susan whisper to her sibling.

Another shooting pain went through my forehead and an image formed in my head. It was incredibly blurry, but I could hear a strangely familiar voice in the background. "Rach, please wake up!" I heard the voice say. Then it faded and my eyes fluttered open.

I was in my new room in Narnia with two worried Pevensie siblings at each side of my bed. Susan was on my left hand side and Edmund was on my right. Susan grinned slightly at me and Edmund smiled at me in delight that I was awake. I smiled weakly at him as I was sore and my head was giving me plenty of pain.

"So how are you?" asked Edmund.

I rolled my eyes at the obvious question. I smiled a bit while I did this.

"What do you think?" I said quietly, but the sarcasm seeped through.

Susan chuckled quietly. Edmund glared at her as she did this.

"So where are the other two?"

"Well, Peter was embarrassed about the whole thing and Lucy went to go find him a few minutes before you woke up. I think he feels pretty guilty about the whole thing, him being the future High King and everything."

This made me grunt in frustration. I hate people worrying about me! Especially when it was just a little knock on the head that my magic could easily heal.

"Um, sorry about this, but could one of you hand me up the red leather book from my bag please? It's on the floor next to you Edmund."

He gave my red spell book (which was as heavy as it was thick) and I flicked to the 'H' section.

My spell book was like a dictionary, only bigger. It had many spell, charms, enchantments and curses. I've never used a curse, as they are for dark enchantress', whereas I'm a light enchantress, a good one in other words.

I found the spell I needed it and started doing the required actions. I needed to circle my hands, lift them up and put my index finger and my middle finger on my temples and rubbed them in circular motions.

Then I stretched my arms out and muttered the words I needed to say under my breath.

Then I felt a wave of heat wash over me, from my toes to my head, where it lingered there longer than it did everywhere else, focusing on the pain and healing it. Then when it went away, the pain had completely disappeared. I sighed in relief of the pain being gone.

I put my book on my bedside table and took the covers off me. I discovered that my outfit was cold and wet, probably from me sweating earlier.

"Ugh, I stink. Susan, before I go, would you mind excusing me so I can take a bath? It's just I don't want to go around smelling like I've been wearing these clothes for a week." I pretended to smell my armpits before pulling a comical face.

"Sure," she said after she laughed, "oh, and I hope you like the clothes that myself and Lucy got made for you."

"Oh Susan, you're the best!" I said, almost giving her a hug before realizing I stank. I backed away slowly.

"Go and check your wardrobe, smelly." She told me humorously. I immaturely stuck my tongue out at her. She smiled again.

When I opened the wardrobe, it was teeming with expensive looking gowns, capes, shoes and many more. I gasped at the sight of them.

"Oh no! I can't possibly take all of these! These must have cost a ton of money!" I got myself all hot and flustered over this, before Edmund said something.

"Well, you _are_ technically royalty now. Plus, your part of the prophecy."

To tell you the truth, I really didn't like wearing dresses. Hardly any Twenty-first century girls wore them casually anymore, and I felt a lot more comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt.

I turned away from the clothes quickly and looked at him.

"What prophecy?" I asked confusedly.

Susan stepped in almost too quickly.

"Oh, he doesn't mean anything. You know how boys are. Nothing in their heads except war plans and food." I laughed quietly at this.

"Now chop chop! His majesty awaits!"

I took the first things I saw out of the wardrobe and a pair of slippers to match.

"Um, Susan?" I asked tentatively, "do you think it would be possible for me to have more casual clothes? It's not that I don't like wearing dresses, or I don't feel grateful for them, it's just I don't feel as comfortable sparring with Edmund and Peter when it's highly probable that I'll fall on my face." I chuckled nervously at the end.

"Well, it is traditional for Narnian females to wear dresses, but…" she trailed off before smiling, "I think that we could make an exception for you." She smiled at me, and I mouthed 'thank you' to her before scampering off.

When I got into the bathroom, (which was connected to my room) and turned on the tap for my bath. I heard Susan whisper something to Edmund and I went to the door.

"I thought we told you! Only Aslan can tell her the prophecy! Coming from us, it would seem weird and unreasonable. She mightn't have even have wanted to fulfil it! How would that leave Narnia, hmm? We need her, and so does Narnia." I quickly turned away form the door and jumped into my bath.

After a very quick wash and shower, I came out wearing a midnight blue dress with silver details on it. This one was different to the red one I had on earlier and it was a one piece. The material wasn't as thick as the previous one and it was clingier. It had long sleeves again, but half ways down my upper arm, it went out a bit (it was a little bit poofy) and it gave a nice effect. I had midnight blue slippers on with ornate silver details on them.

I came out of the bathroom with dry hair (magic is useful isn't it?) and Susan put my hair up in two plaits at the side of my head, joined them in the middle and did another with the remainder. My curly hair stayed normal, but with the plaits it made it looked… nicer. It was only after that, that I noticed I had a beautifully ornate Narnian clip in my hair.

Susan showed me to where Peter was (he was on a cliff edge looking at the sunset) and left me there to talk to him. I tapped his shoulder and he turned around.

"Mind if I sit?"

He nodded slightly and I sat down beside him, my legs bent and my arms around them.

He stopped talking and silence descended on us. After a long time, he broke the silence, "Well? Go ahead."

I fiddled with my dress before speaking, "What do you mean?"

He laughed bitterly, "So I knock you out, and you say 'what do you mean?' What I mean is, I hurt you, and as future High King, that kind of act is inexcusable."

"Listen, I know I've only been in this world for a few days, and I haven't even left Aslan's camp yet, but what I do know is that if you survive this war, you will make a great leader for your country. You are kind, sweet, sympathetic and caring. Pete,"

I said to him and I took his cheek in my hand, making him face me, "You didn't know this would happen, nevertheless you took it with an open mind and embraced it. You look after your siblings, you took me in when I had no idea where I was AND you made me royalty. You've done more for me than my parents did for me. Yet you're only, I don't know, sixteen years old? I mean you're so young, yet you can rule a country? You're just putting pressure on yourself: the kind that's unnecessary. Plus, you practice everyday with your swords even when you don't need to. I mean, you've put in so much time and energy to this. Don't give up now." I put my hand down from his cheek to his hand and I gently squeezed it before I put my head on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

I saw his cheeks heat up from the close contact and it was like a chain reaction, because mine did as well.

"But that's just it. What if I can't protect them? What if they get hurt in this battle?"

I told him the wisest thing I knew. "Things happen for a reason, Pete. We can't control our fate, or our lives. We just have to seize every opportunity as it comes." He stared blankly into space. "Hello? Earth to Pete?"

"Sorry. But all of those things you've said about me… you weren't lying were you?"

"Pete, if I lied, it would be completely obvious to you because I'm such a bad lair." I got up and started walking away.

I turned around and said, "By the way, don't think you'll be alone at the front of the battle field. I'll be right there at your right hand side."

I grinned at him and he gave me a wonderful smile. Then I walked down a hill towards my own tent. I sighed.

"I know you're there, Lu."

A small smiling face popped up from behind it.

She ran up to me and gave me a hug.

"Thank-you for making Peter feel better."

"It was no problem at all, Lu." I stroked her lovely brown hair.

"I need to tell Peter some thing. Wait here" she told me. She clambered up the hill towards where Peter was sitting and disappeared from sight. I waited for a while before she back down again.

"Ok then! Let's go to lunch. I bet you're hungry!" she said the last word in a sing-song voice.

"You bet I am!" running towards what I thought was the dining 'room'.

Before I could react, I ran into something hard and warm. I fell to the ground for the second time today. Strong and warm hands grabbed mine and pulled me up.

I looked into endless chocolate brown eyes that belonged to Edmund Pevensie. We stood there for a minute before Lucy caught up with me.

"Rach, Are you okay? What happened?"

I didn't hear what Lucy said but I reluctantly took my gaze away from the eyes that I got so lost in.

I cleared me throat and smoothed down my clothes, embarrassed. I swallowed.

"Thank-you for helping me up Edmund." I told him quietly.

I could see the colour in his cheeks before it crept into mine.

"You're welcome, Rachel."

"Call me Rach." I added to relive the tension slightly.

"If I call you Rach, will you call me Ed?" "Of course Ed. Or even better, I'll call you Eddie!" I added that bit in to make him do his signature smile.

"Thanks Rach. But if you call me Eddie, can I call you Rachie?" He added to make me smile.

"No, you can't. Lucy already has that nickname under her copyright."

He thought about it for a minute, before looking at me again.

"How about Ray?"

"Yeah. Ray sounds good. Ray…" I said it again, getting used to the nickname.

"See you at lunch, Eddie" I told him, before I walked away with Lucy towing me. I couldn't help but blush slightly.

"So are we going to lunch now?"

"Yes. We are indeed."

**A/N So that was pretty much it! I know nothing much happened in that chapter, but I've got more ideas to make it more exciting to read! So please bare with me! Oh, and here's some cookies for all of you! *offers cookies and gazes at review button* **

**Xx Elemental Angel xX**


	7. Chapter 6  Preparations

**A/N I have been working my bum off for you guys! I have started a two shot called Two choices, Two paths, Two destinies. Please check it out and give me your thoughts! I might be able to get the rest of that up in the next few days :D so for know, read and review! And thank you.**

Chapter 6 ~ Preparations

We walked in silence as we approached the dining hall. Lucy tried to make conversation, but my mind was somewhere else. When we arrived at the dining hall, I sat down in between Lucy and Susan.

Edmund came and sat opposite me. It was quite awkward at the start, because our gazes kept locking, but then Ed started to pull funny faces. This made me laugh quite a lot, not just because they were actually funny, but to shake off the friction between us. A centaur came into give us the news.

"…and so after lunch, Susan shall have an archery lesson, Edmund and Peter will have a sparring session on horses, and Lucy will learn to use her dagger properly. That leaves you Rachel, I presume?" "Yes." I replied,

He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it, making me flush red almost instantly. I turned to hear Lucy making 'whoo' noises, Susan smiling, and Edmunds' and Peter's face a mixture of jealously and anger. "Orieus, did you have some news for her?" said Edmund, a bit anxiously. He took his lips away from my hand and let it go, before talking to him. "Ah, yes! Aslan is coming today. He wants to meet you, Rachel."

I almost choked on my food and Lucy had to hit me on my back to stop me from coughing. "He's coming here? To meet me? Isn't he like the creator of this country?" I raised my voice louder than usual. I mean, this is like a little peasant girl meeting Madonna in my old world!

"Yes, but he won't talk for long because we are about to go to war. He just wants to speak to you Rach." I stayed still for one minute before moving. "So I'd better get moving! What time is he coming at?" "He'll arrive in about half an hour." "Well I shouldn't be sitting here then, should I? I have to get a new outfit sorted out." I whispered to Lucy "(Thanks for the lovely dresses!)" before realizing something.

I sat back down on my chair and sighed. "What's wrong Rach?" asked Peter thoughtfully. "Well before I came here, my mother had disappeared a few years back. So it's just me and my Dad. But he's a soldier fighting in the war." Susan wrapped an arm around me.

"We know Rach. We came through during the middle of the war too." "Wait," I told her, "didn't you guys come through during the Second World War?" "…Yes," they chorused together, "well, I think we might be talking about different wars."

"What do you mean?" asked Peter, "Well, you're all talking about a war in the Twentieth century, aren't you?" They nodded, "Well, I'm talking about one in the Twenty-_first _century." They just sat there for a minute before Lucy uttered, "It's been so long… but how is that possible?"

"I don't know Lucy, but I wish I did. We'll have to ask Aslan later." "Well then Rach, you'll have to give us a lesson on what's been happening in the past sixty years back home." Peter commented "Don't worry, I will," then I remembered that Aslan was coming, "but not right now!" I shouted over my shoulder as I ran quickly towards the tent's opening. "See you later!" Edmund shouted back as I ran outside.

I finally could get to my tent without Lucy helping me. This place was becoming more and more familiar. More and more easy to fit in to. More like a home.

After a while, I picked out a dark green dress with three-quarter length sleeves. It was plain apart from a few intricate designs around the neck and upper part of the sleeves. The back was fiddlier as it was lace-up, but I left it because I knew some one would help me later. I took out a pair of shoes with a single strap across my foot and had slightly higher heels on them than the others I had worn before. They, once again, matched the colour of my dress.

I had a few minutes to think about my hair before I went to meet Aslan, when Edmund came into my room. "Hello, room service!" he said in a very high voice that was supposed to sound feminine. "I hope if you ever go back to Britain that you won't go into a career in impersonating people." I said it in a way that was funny, not a cheeky way.

He laughed at this while I opened my drawer and found a couple of hair clips with small diamonds and pearls as decoration. I fixed my hair up in a messy bun, but I couldn't get my hand round the right way to put it in position. "Here, let me help you." He said from the front of my room. I held the piece of hair for him to out in, and our fingers brushed. It made my stomach do another back- flip. "Do you want me to help me to do the back of your dress as well?" I nodded, smitten.

The dress exposed my neck and some of my back, and while he was putting the hair in, I could feel his warm breath ticking it. It made me grin. When his hands where in my hair, they were soft and warm.

He then laced up my dress, which took him longer than it took Lucy. I felt his fingers touch my back, and I inhaled a bit too loudly. His fingers delicately tightened the back of my dress, so it wouldn't fall down later on. "Tell me if I pull it too tight, okay?" I nodded again.

When he finished, he exhaled loudly. "There. All done." "Why thank-you King Edmund." I curtsied when I was saying this. He grinned and chuckled. "Well," he whispered in my ear, "it was worth it to see you blush."

I felt my face heat up when he said this, and his breath tickled my ear. After a minute, my blush had died down. He went to the flap again and leaned against one of the posts that kept the tent up. He was looking at something intently, his head and eyes facing the same direction. His left hand was in his jet black hair, and his foot was propped up against the post. I couldn't help but stare.

His head jerked quickly, which made me snap out of my daze and do the final preparations before going outside. My back was now facing him, and even though I didn't see it, I could feel his eyes boring into my back. When I'd finished I walked towards the door. "So what do you think?"

For a minute he didn't say anything. "Cat got your tongue?" I said to break the silence. "You look beautiful." I turned my face away from him as I blushed. "Do you need an escort, Miss Elfin?" He said in another mocking tone as he held out his arm for me. "It would be my pleasure, Mr Pevensie." I said in the same tone. I linked my arm with his as we walked to meet Aslan, our laughs bounding through the valley.

**A/N Well that was just a little filler chapter! I will try to get up another chapter ASAP, but progress might be a little bit slow! So please review, and I'll get writing. Oh, and cookies! *pushes cookies forward and gazes at review button***

**Xx Elemental Angel xX **


	8. Chapter 7 Aslan

**A/N Hi there! Again, another chapter, and I hope you have been enjoying my story so far! I would like to give a big thank you to Small Dark One, who's given me a great idea for another chapter! Also another big thank you for Queen Lani Kaulitz the Hyper for being so honest with me. I will take on board what you have said! Oh, and I know Rachel maybe turning into a Mary Sue, but I'll work on that and please bear with me! If you wanna give me your thoughts then tell me. As always, I own nothing.**

Chapter Seven ~ Aslan

"So, that's how my friends and I tricked the most popular girls in our school to wear paper bags over their heads!" I told him while laughing.

We had been telling each other stories about our lives back in England. How I missed it! However, I would have preferred to live in Narnia my entire life.

He stopped laughing suddenly and let go of my arm. The place where his arm had been was now hit with a wave of cold.

"This is where I leave you. Aslan is waiting for you behind that hill."

"Alright. Later on though, can we go for a horse ride later?"

"Your wish is my command," he said bowing.

"See ya."

An idea suddenly hit me.

"Oh, and can Peter come too?" I asked him, trying to form relationships between the both of them. Friendly ones of course. He nodded after a while.

As I walked towards the forest, some nerves started to kick in. I mean, I don't usually get nervous, but this was probably the biggest thing that's ever happened to me! I walked over the hill and when I came to a large oak tree, I saw a golden flash. I turned around and there was a lion standing in front of me.

I kept down a scream before I realized who this was.

"Are you… are you Aslan?"

"Yes I am, Miss Rachel Elfin, age thirteen from London, but you were born in Northern Ireland. Your mother went missing three years ago, and your father's a soldier in the war in your world. You have exceptional martial art and archery skills, you've got great athletic and academic ability and you're also an apprentice enchantress."

"How do you know that?" I asked him.

"I know everything about you and I know what you're thinking now. At the present time, you're thinking about how odd yet strangely amazing it is talking to a lion, and how much you're looking forward to sight-seeing with Edmund and Peter Pevensie later on."

"Well, we really don't need to go into much detail about that do we?" I joked.

"Well, I also know that you, Peter and Edmund are having feelings for each other too." He said, his deep rich voice chuckling while I felt my face redden immensely.

"Well, I don't like them it that way. We're just friends, that's all. Nothing more than friends."

"Don't worry, dear one. What I'm here to tell you, is about the prophecy."

"Um, alright." I said, twiddling my thumbs out of nervousness.

"There is an old Narnian story of a Daughter of Eve that would come from a different time from the original Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve, who would come into Narnia in a time of need, when a great battle would occur between good and evil. She would have to learn many new things in a short space of time. She would fight in the battle, yet the story does not tell of her outcome."

I could sense that he wasn't saying something right. Then after a minute, it clicked. "So what you're really saying is that I'm supposed to be this person that comes from Earth and has to fight in a huge battle? I can't fight in a war! I thought that when I came here that I would be escaping wars, not walking straight into one!" I said, raising my voice.

"Well dear one, I know that you have been through a lot and I understand that. However, I'm not going to tell you how the story ends, and what your fate is. I would prefer for you to figure that out on your own."

"And that means that you don't want to tell me what will happen incase I get the wrong impression?"

"Exactly. Now please, accept your destiny, for the fate of Narnia depends on you."

"Whoa, so the whole of this country? And all the creatures and people in it? I can't even get my maths homework in on time!"

"Don't worry, for everything will work out, as I have sorted out many people to teach you. You must become skilled in magic, archery, hand-to-hand combat, swordsmanship and horse-riding."

Reeling from the shock of this news, I manage to talk at the same pace and tone. "And how long before this battle starts?"

"You have just over two months."

"Two months? I became a martial artist in two years, and it took me six weeks for me too hit the bull's-eye in normal archery. Plus, I haven't even picked up a sword before, never mind fighting with one! How am I going to learn all this in two months? I'm not this incredible person that can learn anything like that!" I exclaimed, snapping my fingers on the last sentence, "I'm only thirteen!"

"Don't worry, dear one. You will find the strength, courage and willpower to do so."

I sighed in defeat. It looked like I had no choice in this. I would have to fight in this battle against the White Witch.

"Now, Rachel, the other Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve all received gifts from Father Christmas. So, now you will too." I looked at him confusedly until I saw a man in a red coat pull up on a sleigh with reindeer leading it.

He laughed really happily and joyfully. "Now, Rachel Elfin, Daughter of Eve, it's time for your presents!" He laughed again. He pulled out of his sack three objects. He presented them to me one by one. "Here are some daggers made from Calormen gold. Bare them well, because even if you lose them, you will always find them again." He handed me a belt with five sheathed daggers on it.

He then brought out a curved sword and shield.

"This sword is called a scimitar. It is not a toy. It's a tool as Peter will know," I had a feeling that there was more to this story than I knew, "and this shield," he pointed at my silver shield with a cross on it the same as my mark, "is too protect you." I smiled at him as he gave it too me. The sword had a gold lion's head at the top and a silver handle. The sheath was white and when I took it out, it had an engraving on it. I took it out of its sheath and studied it.

"_Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight. At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more_," Father Christmas explained, "Peter also has the second part of this prophecy on his sword." I grinned at him when he told me this.

Then he reached for another present and put it in my hands.

"This ring is a descendent of the first rulers of Narnia, Queen Helen and King Frank," here he bowed, "and it is said to hold hidden power. Maybe an Enchantress like you will be able to unlock that magic."

I blushed a bit when he said this. "Thank-you sir, thank-you so much!"

He handed me the ring, which had a white-gold band with what looked like diamonds studded in the metal and it had a big, white coloured stone that had all the colours of the rainbow in it whenever the light caught it and two blue sapphires where on either side of it.

"Oh my goodness!" I said in awe of the ring, "I don't deserve this! It's far too precious for me to look after!"

Father Christmas let out a big hearty laugh. "Oh, your highness! You are so funny! Oh!" he said, wiping away the tears of laughter from his cheeks, "If you can look after a nation, then you can look after this." He sat back on his sleigh while I put the ring on the middle finger of my right hand.

"Oh, and before I forget," he rummaged in his bag for a moment and brought out a sheathed silver sword, a wooden shield and something that was wrapped and heavy. "Long live Aslan! Merry Christmas!" he said as he cracked the reins and speeded off into the distance. I smiled and waved at him until I couldn't see him anymore.

I heard a cheerful laugh from behind me. I turned to see the big cat with a smile on his face.

"So, do you like your presents?" I smiled slightly as he chuckled.

"I think the sword and shield are for Edmund."

"Why? I thought all the Pevensies' got presents."

"There was…an upset. But, you have received those presents that you were meant to receive."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the person in that prophecy is you, correct?" I nodded. "Well, that person is known as a Guardian of Narnia. A Guardian is a blessed being, filled magical and physical skills. It is always female, as the gift is only passed down through female blood. When this war is over, the Pevensie children will take their places at Cair Paravel, the castle with the four thrones. But there was always a place for a Guardian, and that place will be determined by their heart. The prophecies, they've changed."

"But how come we're from different time periods? I'm at least half a century older than them." "The night before you came, the previous Guardian was killed by the White Witch. Narnia must have called you as it was without its protector." "But why would it call me? I didn't even know there was such a place before I came here…"

"We can never know, dear one. Maybe it called you because you had some sort of connection with it, or you were destined to be Narnia's next Guardian." I sighed. "So, explain to me what this upset was with Edmund?"

He inhaled and was about to speak, before he was interrupted by a loud noise. It sounded like a trumpet, but different at the same time. "We had better hurry, young Guardian! It sounds like your friends are in trouble."

I gasped. "Susan!" I shouted out loud, fearing for my friend.

**A/N I just love cliff hangers! :D Well, that's it for another chapter. Oh, and thank you if you read my two shot Two choices, Two paths, Two destinies. It might go to a tree shot, I'm not sure. Cookies! *pushes forward cookies and gazes at review button* Oh, and a special plate for the Milk 'n' Cookies Bookworm!**


	9. Chapter 8 A magical awakening

**A/N Sorry I'm updating a little late guys! It was the start of a new year and I was spending it with friends and family, meaning I couldn't update! Oh well, better late than never! Happy New Year everybody and I hope this year's better than the last! Oh, and sorry the whole title for this chapter didn't fit in the title box! I own nothing.**

Chapter Eight ~ A magical awakening and a new friend

"Climb on my back, Rachel!" called Aslan. I did as I was told, because I didn't know what was happening, but my instincts told me that it was one thing in particular: trouble. I climbed onto the back of the majestic lion, the golden fur softer than the finest material that was on Earth. He started running, and the rhythm of his paws hitting the ground was so soothing, that it was almost as if I was riding on air.

When we came to the scene where the horn had been blown, I saw all the Pevensie children up at tree. Lucy and Susan were at the back, Edmund was behind Peter, and Peter was at the front, holding his sword out protectively. They were high above the ground, but they where just inches above the snapping jaws of a pack of white tigers and panthers.

I could hear Lucy screaming and Susan trying to hush her, but the boys were just silent. Aslan came to a stop, told me to get off, and pounced on a leopard. I was entranced by this, but in was horrified at the same time. What broke me out of this trance was Edmund yelling at me to pay attention, as a white tiger had just launched in the air towards me.

I quickly ducked, unsheathed my sword and plunged it into the tiger. I felt it go slack on my sword. I pulled it out quickly as I saw a panther snapping at Lucy's dress. Some of the fabric came off, and I remembered the dagger belt around my waist. I took out one of the gold and intricately decorated daggers and threw one at the panther.

It hit it straight in the torso, and it collapsed into a heap. I ran over and pulled it out, just before unsheathing another dagger and throwing them both at separate tigers.

"A perfect shot!" I thought to myself.

I went over to the bodies and took them out, and I unsheathed the penultimate two. I then discovered that the pack had started to circle me, and I adjusted the daggers so I had two in each hand.

I whirred around, throwing the daggers as hard as I could at four animals. I took out the last dagger and threw it at a panther, but it was too far away from me to retrieve the dagger. I reached for my scimitar (as it was my last line of protection.) I saw a panther charge at me and I put my hands up to protect myself. I felt my scimitar spin from my grip, before I heard something land beside me. I looked up and saw Susan nodding at me, telling me to use it.

I took the quiver of arrows and slung them over my back, pulling out the bow and an arrow in the process. I pulled back on the string of the bow (which was stiff because it was new) and released it. It hit another tiger. I continued this process until I felt that there were no arrows left. I put the bow and the quiver on the ground and observed my surroundings.

There were no longer just tigers and panthers, but Minotaurs and Satyrs even a polar bear as well. I was clearly out numbered. I was exhausted, tired and defenceless. I breathed heavily as they charged at me. A tiger launched itself at me and pinned me to the ground, its claws scratching my dress and skin. Then, I felt something deep within me stir, and it grew and grew until I felt like I would explode from the power.

I noticed that my mark, necklace, bracelet and ring glowing with a bright white light, like magnesium ribbon burning in a Bunsen burner flame. The power took over all of my body, right to my fingertips. Since I was glowing, I could see all of the enemies shielding their eyes, and some of Aslan's army were bowing right down until their faces touched the ground. I saw the Pevensies' come down from the tree and stand in awe.

When I saw each of their faces, the power overtook me, and I released all of the power that had built up in my body. It all seemed to centre on my sword hand, my right hand, and a wave of white light beamed from that part of my body, and the enemy fell.

I felt the energy drain from my body extremely quickly, and I fell to the ground due to the amount of effort I had put in. I closed my eyes and saw the same place I had seen before, although it was less blurry and the sounds I could hear were clearer.

"Rach, I need you! Wake up! I'm begging you, if you can hear me, respond!"

There was a second body in the room, but it moved and left the person calling to me by himself or herself. I could then hear the person talking to me stop talking and laughing, quietly yet, almost manically.

Then I woke up again in Narnia. The Pevensies were coming towards me, Lucy running as fast as her little legs could carry her. She tackled me with a hug. The rest of them arrived soon afterwards. I found myself smothered me with them. Although no one said a word, a thousand were formed from those actions. But I looked over Susan's shoulder, and saw a white figure disappear among the trees in the forest.

"Rise, future Kings, Queens and Princess of Narnia."

I rose when he called me, blushing ever so slightly.

"Come forth, Rachel Elfin, Guardian of Narnia."

I stepped forward and received my sword (which was given to me by a male centaur) and I bowed, my face down, my sword pointed towards the ground.

I felt something heavy on my right shoulder and then it moved to my left.

"Rise, Dame Rachel Lustor. May you be Narnia's light in times of darkness."

I had a look of pure astonishment on my face and I looked to the Pevensies with my jaw wide open.

Lucy and Susan hugged me, and when they had finished Peter got his own hug. He kissed my forehead and I hid my blush by putting my head into his chest. Tears of happiness and relief formed in my eyes. I looked over to Edmund, who was standing by himself, looking at us, grinning. "Now Edmund," I said, menacingly. I held out my arms in a hug gesture. He came over and gave me a hug, his strong, warm body against mine.

The hug lasted a bit longer than in should have, and the sound of someone clearing their throat broke us up. It was Peter.

"So, I think we should get back to practising. Remember, he have hardly anytime to train for this battle, and we must be fighting fit."

The sound of agreement filled the air. I suddenly had an idea "Or," I said out loud, "or, we could have some fun."

A silence descended. "What did you have in mind?" asked Peter. A mischievous smile found its way across my face.

After a while, I went down to the beach. It was quite far on foot, so I wanted to take one of the horses. After many failed attempts on mounting the poor beast, I decided that maybe walking did sound better after all. It was a beautiful beach, a kind that you could only dream of back in Britain.

I walked along the waters edge for a while, before seeing a large rock formation. I climbed up it and sat down, watching the waves crash on the golden sand and the water glisten in the distance. I saw something moving in the water and thought it was a fish. But as I looked more intently, it was a large shape, definitely not the form of a fish. It swam up to the rocks and it raised its head above the water. It was a girl. With a tail. A mermaid!

"Hello!"

I called down to it. The mermaid flinched slightly but it looked up. It smiled and waved. I clambered down and crouched down on my knees.

"Hello!"

"You've said that already." the mermaid told me.

"Oh. Sorry. My name's Rachel, what's yours?" I asked her.

"My name's Jue-lanai. Jue-lanai the mermaid."

"No surname?"

"Nope! Just Jue-lanai." She smiled at me.

She had a beautiful, sparkling green tail and incredibly light blue eyes. Her hair was light brown and almost fell to the bottom of her tail.

"Ok, Jue-lanai the mermaid, tell me about yourself." I crossed my legs and put my hands on my feet.

Jue-lanai pulled herself up onto the rocks, and 'sat' down beside me.

"Only if you tell me about yourself first!"

I decided to tell her everything.

"My name's Rachel, I have curly black hair and hazel eyes, five foot four…"

"No!" the mermaid laughed, "I meant the stuff on the inside! What you like and dislike! I want to know you inside out. I can see everything else."

"Alright then. I'm thirteen from London, my favourite colour is either blue or red, I love chocolate, my favourite drink is coke, but you wouldn't know what it is! I love laughing and being completely random, I hate people who think they're the best and know everything. My dad's a soldier, I don't know where my mum is. I live for sport, I hate school but I have to do well in it and I love being around friends and family. I hate the dark and extreme heights."

"Okay, a deal's a deal, so lets go!"

She stopped for a minute and looked like she was in deep thought.

"Well, my name is Jue-lanai and I'm a mermaid, um, I love the water and playing with all the baby mermaids and fish. I don't know who my parents are, but I don't mind. I've got absolute freedom! Oh, my favourite food is crab, really, really fresh crab! I don't know what my favourite drink is, like you said, I don't know what drinks are! I don't like big boats and sea serpents. Freaky things." She shivered at the last part.

"Jue-lanai, do you have any friends?"

"Well, I have one, but she's away at the minute. I don't know when she'll be back. She's a little bit scatterbrained, but don't tell her I said that!"

I laughed at my new friend.

"Is it not really lonely not having any family? I mean, my mum disappeared and my dad's away, but at least I knew them."

"Well, maybe because you knew your parents, you miss them, and you know what it feels like not having them around you, because you're used to them being there. You know who they are, but I didn't know mine. That way, I have no idea who they are, so I don't have the same feeling as you have."

I put my arms around her and gave her a hug.

"I do miss my mum," I mumbled, "it shows how much we take family for granted."

We stayed and talked for a little while longer. We got to know each other better and I promised her that I would be back down to see her as soon as I could.

"See you later Jue-lanai!" I smiled and waved as I climbed over the rocks and back onto the beach.

"Goodbye, my friend." Jue-lanai mumbled as she slipped beneath the waves.

**A/N It looks like Rachel's got a new friend! I really wanted to add this bit in and it could help me with future chapters! You also got to know Rachel a little bit more, and maybe I needed to do that. So, thanks for all you who have reviewed, favourited or alerted my story (I dunno if they're the right terms, but you can tell me if they're not!) Cookies! *puts special Happy New Year cookies on plate, pushes forward and gazes at review button***

**Xx Elemental Angel xX**


	10. Chapter 9 Horse riding

**A/N Sorry about the late update guys! I promise you that I will not be dropping this story soon and I promise that I will update, no matter how slow progress may be! I wanna thank you guys for your undying support and I hope to have the next chapter up soon!**

Chapter Nine ~ Horse riding

"Okay, then we'll have the decorations here, and then the food table will go in that corner. The stage is perfect and then the musicians' instruments will go there." I told a female centaur standing next to me. A few hours had past since the tiger-panther attack, and I was planning a party for everyone.

I had done my share of practice that day, so the remainder of time I had until dusk (which is when the party will start) I had worked on putting this together. Luckily, Aslan's camp had many cooks and dressmakers, so they would have everything prepared for later.

I sighed with relief when I had gotten all the preparations finished and I went to my tent. I saw the dress I had designed for the dressmakers to create for me earlier on that day. It was a purplish-blue colour and went to just above my ankles. It also had a rose accessory.

It was made from silk, and it was extremely soft on my skin. There was a translucent material over the actual dress in the same colour. It had small straps and there were a pair of small purple wedges that I designed myself. I slipped the dress and shoes when Lucy came in.

"Hello, Lucy." I said to her, cheerfully.

"Hi, Rach."

"What are you doing here? I thought that you and Susan were coming to get ready here later."

"Well, we are, it's just that I need to tell you that the future Royals of Narnia are meant to have an escort to parties like this." I swallowed. I've never been to a party that we had to be escorted to! Usually, boys tend to stay away from me.

"So, who are you going with?"

"Well, I'm going with Edmund and Susan's going with the leader of the centaurs."

"What about Peter?" I said, my pulse starting to quicken.

"That's a very good question. I think Edmund told me that he wasn't going to go. I think he still feels bad about what happened…"

I nodded. He know I'm fine and have been ever since I cast that spell on myself, but is he really being so silly that he still blames him self?

"It was a training accident!" I said out loud, raising my voice slightly, causing a few Narnians to stare. My face heated up again, this time in embarrassment.

"Rachie, what are you talking about?" Lucy asked, perplexed.

"Sorry Lu. I was in Rachel -land for a minute there.

" I gave her a small smile. "Hey don't worry! I'm not going mad! That happened a _long _time ago." I grinned at the youngest Pevensie, who was laughing.

"So… should I go ask him now?"

"I think that would be the best thing to do."

"Okay Lu! Let's go find Peter"

Although, I changed out of my party dress into an baggy long-sleeved white shirt that went half way down my thighs and a pair of black leggings with dirty gold knee high lace-up boots. Therefore, off we trekked, towards where the boys were practicing.

We found them sparring (again) and Lucy let me go and see them in private. When they saw me, they stopped immediately. Both of them gave me a warm smile and I couldn't help myself but smile back. I had my hands behind my back, concealing the presents for Edmund.

"Hello Rach." Peter greeted me.

"Hiya. I hope I'm not interrupting anything important, but Edmund said earlier that he'd take me for a ride so I could get used to Narnia?"

"I did say that to her Pete." He nodded his head.

"Hey, would you mind if I came with you? I need some help with my horse riding."

"Sure." I replied.

"What have you got behind your back?" asked Edmund.

"Nothing much." I said, making him curious.

"Well, you've got something! Show us."

"No, no! it's nothing exciting." I looked at the ground for a minute, then caught his eye again. I smiled slightly. I was getting better at lying, but with Ed and Pete, it wasn't too easy.

"Let me see it!" he told me, menacingly, lunging for the items behind me.

I laughed as I dodged him, and we ran around, him chasing me until he rugby tackled me.

"Let me see them." He said under his breath

"I would, but you're preventing me from doing that."

Peter ran over to us as Edmund was getting up. Peter was a pure gentleman as he grabbed my hand and helped me to get back on my feet.

"Okay, well here you go! Father Christmas gave me mine and in doing so, yours as well. Which reminds me, did something happen to you on your way here? Because everyone else seems to have gotten their presents before you."

As I continued, his face seemed to drop every second. He inhaled to speak, before a faun came over to us and announced to us that our horses were ready for us. We walked over to the stable in silence and as Peter and Edmund mounted their horses with great speed, I couldn't think of the first thing on how to ride. I had ridden horses before, but they were pony treks with people guiding the horse, and after trying to mount one a little while ago, I don't think I would be ready to ride: neither was the horse I tried to mount!

"How do I… how do I…" I trailed off when I thought of how stupid I was being. I mean, it looked easy enough, so why should I bother anybody else on a matter that was so small? So I swung myself up on the horse, but my footing slipped and I fell back on the ground. I saved myself from further humiliation by landing on my knees. I hissed from the pain.

"Ow!" I whispered to myself, while I wiped the dust off my knees. Fortunately, they weren't cut.

"Do you need any help?" asked Peter. "No, I'm fine. It's just I've never gotten up on a horse. Don't worry about me, I'll get up there some how!" I tried getting up again, but fell back down on the ground, landing on my backside.

I tried again and pulled myself up, but I kept slipping. Before I lost my footing completely, I felt warm hands around my waist, helping my down. I suddenly felt utterly safe as I let myself be lowered down.

I turned around when that n my feet touched the ground, and I saw that it was Edmund that had helped me down. He went over to my horse and instructed me on how to get myself up. We were going without the saddle, and it was a lot harder than with one.

I eventually got my right leg over the back of my horse and was now sitting on-top of a shiny, jet black mare with a white star on its head. Peter had pointed out that the horses' coat looked rather like my hair. I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult.

"Now, all you have to do now is dig your heels into your horse."

I was slightly confused.

"What do you mean 'my horse'?"

"All the royals have horses. But she doesn't have a name."

"She? Hmm..." It took me a minute, but eventually it came to me.

"How about Tia?"

"I like it. My name's now Tia." said my horse. I was slightly taken back when she said this, but I wasn't really surprised. Maybe I'm getting more used to talking animals and moving trees.

"So do you know how to ride?" asked Tia. I said no. "Well, for now, I'll help you. Take the reins and _lightly _dig your heels into me. _Lightly_." She told me, adding emphasis over the word 'lightly.'

So I took the reins, tightened them around my hands and dug my heels into her. She reared up and neighed, and I held on for dear life, but I trusted my horse, so when her hooves touched the ground again, we took off.

I could hear the pounding of Edmund's and Peter's horses hooves behind me. I looked over my shoulder, the wind blowing through my hair. It blew into my face, but I saw Edmund and Peter smiling at me. They were on either side of me, and we were running across a meadow. I saw Peter and Edmund turn to the left, so I followed them. I thought I had to do something but then it dawned on me that this animal wasn't like the ones back home. I knew that Tia already knew where to go.

I saw that there was a forest ahead of us. I could hear Tia panting, her hooves hitting against the grass of the meadow we were galloping across. We guided our horses into the forest on the edge of the grassy plain (well, Peter and Edmund did) and we rode until we came to a clearing. It was a small, rough semi-circle on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the glistening ocean and the grand, white building that was Cair Paravel. We slowed down and dismounted our horses. I looked in complete awe of the beauty that was this small clearing. Our clearing.

I sat down on the ground, not caring if I got dirty. I brushed away some of the leaves and saw that there was grass underneath, so I pushed several of them away and cleared a space for us to sit on. The two boys sat down on either side of me, staying silent and taking in the views. We sat in silence for a while before Edmund breathed, "Wow…"

I laughed lightly.

"I didn't know you were a mind reader as well, Eddie!"

He laughed a little at this.

"Wow… I didn't know you could be sarcastic!" he said.

"Me? Sarcastic? Never." I smiled. Peter was laughing as well.

Peter started telling us a story about how one of the boys at his boarding school tried to climb out of his dorm window in the middle of the night to talk to his girlfriend at St Finbar's after curfew and ended up falling face first into horse dung and getting caught by his headmaster.

We were in fits of laughter by the end of it, and so the story telling began. Ed told us of the time he and his friends were in science and in the middle of an experiment his partner added too much of a substance into his testube and it managed to blow up in his face and set the school's fire alarm off. We went back and forth between the stories and for a while, the stress of the upcoming war was forgotten.

Ed was hungry, so he went to find some fruit to eat and myself and Peter were alone. That was my cue to start the awkward conversation of me asking Pete to be my date to the party. I took in a deep breath and said 'Peter' at the same time he said 'Rachel.' I blushed a bit, because he only used my proper name instead of my nick name if he was being perfectly serious.

"You go first." We both told each other at the same time. There was some nervous laughter and then Peter finally spoke.

"Rachel, I know I've only known you a few days and um… I was just wondering if you would em… you see I was planning on going but um… maybe if I went with someone, maybe you or a female faun or something but-" I cut him off by putting my finger to his lips.

"Yes I will go with you to the party!" I exclaimed, "but this doesn't change anything, does it?"

"No! Of course not!"

I saw the familiar colour in his cheeks. We heard some rustling behind us and Edmund emerged, with an apple in each hand. He was eating one before he sat down.

"Don't offer us some or anything…" I asked teasingly, before grabbing the one in his right hand and taking a triumphant bite out of it.

"Oi!" he complained, pushing me lightly.

I laughed before offering Peter some, who took another bite out of the other side. I was still munching on the apple before offering it back to Edmund.

"I don't want it now! It's been poisoned!" he looked at it disdainfully, then smiled and took it back.

We sat there for a while and before I knew it, my arms were wrapped around their waists and Peter and Edmund had one of theirs around mine. I switched from having my head on Edmund's shoulder to Peter's, but then I realized that we must have been sitting there for a long time. I slowly got up, groaning in pleasure as I stretched.

"Come on guys, time to go."

They stood up as well, and we found out horses eating some grass nearby. I got to mine first and hoisted myself up.

"Bet you can't catch me!" I yelled over my shoulder playfully. "Come on Tia, let's show these boys how its done!"

Tia reared up and neighed, before galloping away quickly. I looked over my shoulder and saw them about fifteen yards away.

I laughed in delight as the wind played with my hair and the sun hit my skin. We galloped faster and faster, until we eventually slowed down near the stables.

"There's a good girl." I said to Tia, patting the side of the face.

The two boys rode in seconds after, smiling.

"Ha ha! I win!" I said triumphantly.

They both hit me lightly over the head, and I pretended that it was painful.

"Oh, the pain! I think I'm going to DIE from it!" I said, putting on a silly voice.

We all laughed. Edmund gave me a sugar cube to give to Tia, who ate it greedily.

"I'll see you both later guys!" I shouted over to them, before leaving to get ready for the party.

I stopped off on the way to my tent to see the beautiful decorations in the tent. There were sparkling gold and red banners across the ceiling, bales of hay for people to sit on, a small table for food and drink, a big space for everyone to dance and the small stage for the band to play was all set up with their oddly shaped musical instruments.

I skipped off happily towards my room, grinning. I was in my room for barely a few seconds and my grin subsided. My head started pounding and I clutched my skull. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from screaming and I felt myself falling. I was about to hit the ground, before my vision went into a white tunnel, and an image appeared at the end.

**A/N I'm so mean aren't I? Anyway, another cliffy! Sorry progress has been slow, but I have gone back to school and I've been insanely busy oh well, until next time my faithful readers!**

**Xx Elemental Angel xX**


	11. Chapter 10 A tough situation

**A/N I'm sooooooo sorry you guys! I have been incredibly busy with school and all that crud, so I haven't had time to write! Bad Rachel! –slaps self- Anywho, I have had time to write up until chapter 14 on my laptop, and I'm very proud about that! So as a reward, I'll give you a little sneaky peek of the next chapter! So enjoy! :D Oh and Princess of Narnia 1192? I got this chapter up as soon as I saw your review. On with the show…**

Chapter Ten ~ A Tough situation

The same foggy room I had seen a few times beforehand appeared in my head.

I could make out some features now. There was a man in a white coat, somebody was on a bed and there was another man sitting with his head in his hands beside the person on the bed. The person in a white coat was talking to the other person, but it was all muffled and distorted, unlike the last time when I could hear it perfectly.

The other man was clearly disagreeing with what the white coated man was saying. The man sat down again and started sobbing. The man in the white coat checked something and then left the room. The man that was sitting down looked at the door and then started laughing. Where had I heard that laugh before? It sounded incredibly familiar…

I was transported back and woke up on the floor with a gasp. I slowly got up and went over to my bed and sat down, thinking about what had just happened. I mulled it over in my mind before Lucy and Susan came into my tent.

"Hi there Rachie!" Lucy said happily before unveiling a beautiful light pink dress.

"Aw, Luc, you're going to look absolutely gorgeous in that dress tonight!" I ran over and hugged her.

Susan smiled and brought out her dress. It was a beautiful dark blue dress.

"Su, that is one lucky centaur!" I giggled.

She gaped at me for a minute before playfully bumping me.

"Rachie, we were just wondering if you wanted any help? We could all get ready together!" her voice as excited as she looked.

"Well of course we can!" I replied, patting her head.

We all took it in turns to use the bathroom for various things, and before we knew it, we were all set for the party. We were just waiting for our dates.

Edmund was the first to arrive, closely followed by the leader of the centaurs. Peter was slightly later than the others. I was trying to put my earring in at the time, and I turned around to face him.

"Hi Pete." I said, smiling at him. I looked away again, my face screwed up in concentration.

"Here, let me help you," Susan took the earring and put it through the little hole in my ear.

"Thanks Su," I walked into the bathroom, just to check that I looked alright.

Once I was happy, I came back out and took Peter's arm. Edmund had Lucy's and Susan had Orieus' (the leader of the centaurs). We arrived at the tent flap and a faun told us to get in order. I just went wherever Peter went! Finally, the first two (who were Ed and Lu) lifted the flap and went in. I could hear claps and cheers from the Narnians, and Aslan was… introducing them?

Susan and Orieus were next. Another round of applause was issued and Aslan spoke again. I squeezed my hands together tightly, but thankfully Peter didn't notice. The faun that told us to get in order lifted the flap and gestured for us to go in. Peter and I moved forward at the same time, and like those before us, were greeted by the same applause that the others had and Aslan spoke.

"May we introduce, Dame Rachel Lustor escorted by Sir Peter Wolfsbane, future rulers of Narnia."

The lion smiled at us, and the Narnians clapped again. The soft Narnian music started playing, and Peter, myself and the other Pevensies had the first dance. It was a slow song, but it was beautiful.

"Peter," I whispered to him, "I can't dance."

He laughed lightly at this, trying not to attract any attention, and whispered back, "Neither can I! Well, Ed and I had one dance session earlier, but I could hardly do anything. You might have two left feet, but after seeing us, you'd think we didn't have any feet!"

I laughed at this while myself and Peter awkwardly swayed. But it was fun, because we talked about lots of things: war, thankfully, wasn't one of them. When the music stopped, I felt slightly disappointed. The music started to liven up, and the dancing became more energetic. I sat down with Lucy and Susan on a bale of hay, so we could talk and watch their brothers do the funniest dancing I think I've ever seen.

We talked about small things, gossiping like girls do, before they left the room. They said that they were getting some air but who could blame them? It was like a sauna in that room. I just sat on that hay bale and watched the dancing, not realizing the time. The music slowed down from the lively jig to a slow, melodic song.

Peter came over to my hay bale. "Care to dance?" he asked, holding his hand out to me.

"Why thank you Sir Peter!" I answered melodramatically, taking his hand and getting up.

I looked around me to see what we were meant to be doing. The man was to put his hands on the ladies waist, and the woman was to put both her hands around his neck. Peter laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. I sighed.

"What the hey?" I said out loud, putting my hands around his neck.

He looked shocked at first, but then he tentatively put his hands on my waist. We both smiled and laughed nervously, before I put my head down on his chest. We swayed like we had during the first dance and it was nice. But then he started talking.

"I thought that when you first came to Narnia, you were pretty. Nothing more. But now that I've gotten to now you, I think that you're beautiful. Inside and out. That dress is perfect on you."

I sighed, knowing what he was implying.

"Look Pete, I really like you, I really do, but I can't come between you and your brother. I really like him as well! What I'm trying to say is-"

I was cut off by a Minotaur coming through the flap. Everyone gasped and the music stopped. Some of them stood forward, ready to fight, but others stayed back in shock and fear. These weren't the Narnians I knew. The lumbering beast came over to myself and Peter, and by that time we were apart and ready to stand our ground.

"I am Otmin, general of the Her Majesties' army," He bellowed, causing the Narnians to disagree immensely.

"Silence!" he shouted over the commotion, "or will I have to kill your Queens?" he sounded triumphant.

I didn't know why he sounded so cocky, but then the flap opened again, revealing Lucy and Susan, their hands bound behind their backs, guarded by two more Minotaurs. The beasts held knives to the to the two girls' throats.

"Let them go!" yelled Peter in anger.

"Don't think words will free them, High King," Otmin mocked, "maybe an exchange will take your sisters lives out of danger." He looked over to me and then it clicked.

"You're not taking her!" Edmund shouted, coming over to us, stopping in front of me. He was soon joined by Peter and it was as if they were a protective wall. I saw the other Minotaurs tighten their grip around the knife handles. I realized that it was simple: my life for my two friends.

"I'll go with you if you promise to leave them alone." I said, trying to sound brave.

Otmin made a sound like a laugh and the two Minotaurs at the door let Susan and Lucy go. They ran over to their brothers and embraced them. Aslan came over to the Pevensies.

"Aslan, we've got to do something!" cried Peter

"I'm afraid I cannot do anything. Rachel is the Guardian, and she must keep you safe. She is only doing her duty, and her duty is to protect Narnia and you. I'm sorry Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy." He walked away.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine!" I called over to them, struggling against the Minotaurs to do so. They finally took me out of the tent and I felt something really hard hitting the back of my head. My vision swam before it went black.

**A/N Well there you have it. Rachel's been taken by the White Witch. Also, I am going to be doing some editing on previous chapters, so if you get an email because of it, I'm really sorry! Oh, and here's a sneaky peak:**

**I opened my eyes slowly, just to make sure that the minotaur or the White Witch wasn't standing there, ready to torture me. Was the Witch really going to do that? Was she really the one who took my mother away from me? Why is she going to make me into a work of art? What did it mean?**

**I curled up in a ball and saw a poor gryphon lying in the cell next to mine. It was awake and looking at me. I was startled, but the beast looked weak and tired. I found my voice.**

"**Hello." I greeted the gryphon. It looked at me**

"**Are you a believer in Aslan?" I asked the gold coloured bird.**

**It nodded. **

**I know it doesn't sound too great, but it will sound better when I get the rest up!**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated *stares at review button***

**Xx Elemental Angel xX**


	12. Chapter 11 The Melting Ice Fortress I

**A/N Well guys there isn't more to say than… on with the show! I only own Rachel and anything unrecognisable. ;D **

Chapter Eleven~ The Melting Ice Fortress Part One

I felt myself being roughly carried.

"I think I could break a world record for the amount of times I've fainted. It's isn't funny!" I thought to myself.

It was very late, and I was over the shoulder of one of the Minotaurs, most likely Otmin's. I opened my eyes for a moment and saw a castle made of ice. Although I hadn't heard much about the White Witch, it was pretty obvious that this rapidly melting building was her home. I wouldn't have liked to have seen it when it was in its glory!

I quickly closed my eyes as we got closer and closer to the castle gates. They were large and iron: they looked incredibly strong. The gates opened and I stole a glance of the courtyard. It was full of stone statues of all different shapes and sizes. I felt sick as I saw them. Could they have been real animals? Could they have been… Narnians? The last thing I saw before going into the Witch's house was a faun. He looked as if he was in great pain and in his frozen state, looked like he would forever be silently screaming.

It was freezing in that house! I couldn't feel my toes within minutes of being there. It probably didn't help that I was still in my dress and wedge heeled shoes. I kept my eyes closed and all I could hear was Otmin's heavy footsteps.

"Otmin!"

I froze at the voice that echoed through the throne room.

"By your arrival, I assume that you have the girl?"

"Yes your majesty." Otmin said.

"Good. I have waited a long time to see my old… acquaintance."

There was obviously distain in her voice. But why? What did this cold hearted woman want with me? Otmin answered my question.

"Your majesty, with all due respect, what do you want this girl for? Why didn't you want the other two Daughters of Eve instead?"

"Well Otmin, since you are my general, I will tell you. I have met Aslan before, at the dawn of time. I was awoken by a boy known as Digory Kirke and a girl known as Polly Plummer. That was the first time I came across humans and I automatically hated them. Then, I ate an apple that was forbidden, and it gave me power: to live forever, never to grow old or die. After that I ran away and started planning my conquest of Narnia. I was able to round up an army and over time, it was huge. I was nearing victory but one thing stood in my way: the Guardian of Narnia."

My blood turned old. Could the previous Guardian have been my own mother? The Witch continued.

"It had been many generations since I had eaten the apple and the Guardian had many reincarnations of itself over those years. Those reincarnations increased in power over time, each one more powerful than the last. I finally found her and we started fighting, a one on one duel to the death. We were evenly matched, but she did not want to kill me, only 'right what was wrong in my heart'" The Witch spat. She started laughing humourlessly.

"She thought that she could change me and make me into a better person. What a stupid belief to have! I was close to victory, my dark magic overpowering her silly little attempts to 'help me'. I had her on the ground, about to turn her to stone before she started glowing white. She was lifted into the air and the spirits of the previous Guardians appeared. Her light magic over powered me. It had gotten to the stage were I could no longer look at her because she was so bright. When I looked back, she had disappeared. Then Narnia was mine. However, the Guardian, Aslan and the four other humans were the only things I have feared."

Wait a minute. The White Witch is scared of us?

"That was until I found a portal to the human world and found this girls' mother. I brought her here and well, the rest is history."

The witch killed my mother! My blood boiled with anger.

"However, now that Aslan, the four prophesized children and the Guardian have gathered in one place at the same time, their combined efforts could destroy me! That's why I have a plan to get rid of one of them."

I could tell the Witch was smiling.

"How will you do this your majesty?"

"I won't tell you all of it, but I'll tell you basically what will happen. The girl you're holding will be tortured, I'll turn her into one of my works of art and hold her for ransom. The Great Lion will have to agree with my conditions, otherwise he'll lose two of his beloved humans. Then, I will get rid of Aslan and his army will be distraught! Narnia will be mine once again!"

Two? Who's the other one? Why does she want too turn me into a work of art? Whatever it means, I don't like the sound of it!

"Are you sure that the girl is still unconscious?" the witch asked Otmin.

"Yes your majesty. We hit her on the back of the head with the hammer, just like you told us too."

"Good. Bring her to the dungeons and shackle her. Send news of the capture to Abaxrel."

I felt Otmin bow and leave. He walked for what seemed like an age, until another iron gate. He opened it and carried me for a few more seconds, before putting me roughly down and putting the shackles around my feet. It was much colder in that room, a lot colder than anywhere else I had been. It was also very wet.

I wanted to shiver and curl up in a ball to keep myself warm, but I couldn't afford letting Otmin or the Witch know that I was conscious again. Once he had finished, I heard him go out of the room very quickly.

I opened my eyes slowly, just to make sure that the minotaur or the White Witch wasn't standing there, ready to torture me. Was the Witch really going to do that? Was she really the one who took my mother away from me? Why is she going to make me into a work of art? What did it mean?

I curled up in a ball and saw a poor gryphon lying in the cell next to mine. It was awake and looking at me. I was startled, but the beast looked weak and tired. I found my voice.

"Hello." I greeted the gryphon. It looked at me

"Are you a believer in Aslan?" I asked the gold coloured bird.

It nodded.

"How long have you been here?"

It looked at me.

"I have lost track of time in this desolate place, although I do know that she put me in here a few days before a Son of Adam arrived. In fact, he was kept in the same cell that you are in now."

"Really? What was his name?"

"Edmund Pevensie."

I suddenly felt sick and my throat tightened.

"Why was he in here? Did she take him as well?"

"No. He is the one who betrayed the Narnians and his own family."

A wave of rage washed over me.

"What! Edmund Pevensie would never do something like that! He loves his family, and I couldn't think of a more offending and false accusation of him! Don't lie to me!" I was incredibly angry at the creature now. The gryphon flinched and looked hurt.

"With all due respect to the future king, I do believe that he found his way again."

"What happened?" I said through gritted teeth.

The gryphon explained everything to me, from the first time Lucy arrived in Narnia, to when the Witch took Edmund away with her.

"But why is the Witch back here at her castle then? I thought that she would be at her camp, where her army is." I asked, confusedly.

"I overheard her saying to that lummox of a minotaur, that she had unfinished business to attend to. I assume that you are the unfinished business?" he questioned.

"I suppose I am."

The great bird gasped,

"You're not the Guardian, are you? The long lost daughter of Rosé-Ann Marie?"

"As a matter of fact, I am."

The gryphon dipped its head and swooped his wing down, like he was bowing,

"My father was saved by your mother many moons ago. My family are eternally in your debt."

I smiled at one of the kind deeds my mother had perused whilst she was in Narnia.

"I should have known! You have her eyes and hair. You look a lot like her."

I have always been complimented on these features. Although I had inherited her jet-black hair, hers was straight, not curly. It was probably dad's side of the family.

"Thank you er, what is your name?"

"Iron Feather. Yours?"

"Rachel Elfin. Why are you still here if the Witch isn't? Wouldn't she take her prisoners with her?"

"I do not know, Rachel. I was the only one left

Tell me Iron Feather, what happened to my mother?"

Iron feather's face looked angry.

"The White Witch killed her."

My eyes filled with tears. My mother. My kind, ever smiling, beautiful, caring mother. I covered my mouth and started screaming with rage.

Suddenly, a bright light issued from my chest. It started off as a glowing vapour, but then it took the form of…

"Mum!" My voice echoed through the dungeon.

"Shh!" she hushed, putting a glowing finger to my lips.

I was so overjoyed to see her after three long years.

"I thought the Witch killed you!"

"That maybe the case, but remember, along with all Guardians past, I am always alive in you."

She touched my heart. I could feel tears threatening again, but this time, they weren't out of anger, but happiness instead.

She turned to Iron Feather.

"Ah Ronny, we meet again."

The gryphon laughed.

"I'm all grown up now Rosie, not a little hatchling like I once."

"Don't pretend to be all grown up! You're just entering your teenage years!"

"We did meet one hundred years ago, you do know that?"

"I remember it like yesterday Ronny."

"Whoa, so how long can gryphons live for?" I interrupted.

"We can live for more than a millennia, dear child. Maybe two if we're lucky!"

It all went back to mum.

"The main reason I'm here is to tell you that although the Witch can torture you, hurt you and break you, just remember that it won't last forever. There is always light at the end of the tunnel. You have your ancestors power and love behind you, always."

I smiled at her. Typical mum.

"Mum, you're not going to be here for long are you?"

She shook her head sadly.

"I'm afraid not my little honey bee. But don't worry, I'll always be here for you.."

A loud noise came from the stairs and mum gasped.

"It's Jadis! I have to go! Ronny look after my daughter and Rachel, please be careful."

She kissed my forehead before disappearing, mere seconds before the Witch and Otmin came barging in.

"General, unlock them both."

The lumbering beast took out a key and put it into the small keyhole that was on the iron rings around my feet. I looked over to Ronny and sent him a look. A look that said I-don't-know-what's-going-to-happen-but at-least-we'll-there-together.

When the iron rings around my ankles were unlocked, I rubbed them because the shackles dug into them.

"Get up." The witch commanded.

I reluctantly got to my feet, sending her a glare. She could have been a beautiful woman, but cold, hard features etched her face.

When Otmin got Ronny out of his shackles, he went behind us, whilst the witch lead the way. I gently held onto his wing when we climbed endless staircases. We reached the top of the castle, which was flooded and dripping. It could've been beautiful and majestic; now, it's a gradually decreasing ice sculpture. The ground was uneven and looked dangerous to walk on. I could see the surrounding mountains and forests but I was mainly concerned about what I was standing on and what she was going to do to me. It was incredibly dark out here, but then again, it was nighttime.

She looked at me and smiled. It wasn't a nice, warm grin that you would get from a friend, but a cold, evil one. She walked over to me.

"Now Rachel," she whispered into my ear. I shivered,

"We both know that I'm going to win this war and you can't do anything about it! In fact, you're going to help me, once I toughen you up and silence you."

Then, it started.

**A/N Well there you have it! Part One is up! Just so you guys know, this is how my maths works. Writing + updating = Happy readers (I hope!) Reading plus REVIEWING = Happy Rachel. Happy Rachel = More writing time. More writing time = more updates. More updates = Happier readers. So please, give me your thoughts! Thanks! P.S, I'm going to edit my story. Some things will be tweaked but just slightly. Sorry if you get emails about it and there's not a new chapter! **

**Xx Elemental Angel xX**


	13. Chapter 12 The Melting Ice Fortress II

**A/N I know this update's pretty late so… I'M SOOOOO SORRY! I have been uber busy with GCSE's and I haven't had time to write! Its actually been killing me -.- I'm also very sorry for the people that have favourited this story because you've got loads of emails from this. I've been correcting stuff! Update on current ages : Peter-16, Susan-15, Edmund- 14 Lucy- 11 and Rachel is thirteen. I'm also just back from a hockey match and it was FREEZING! But we won and I played well (tee hee!) ****Here we go!**

Chapter Twelve ~ The Melting Ice Fortress Part Two

The Witch called for someone and a dwarf carrying a whip appeared. She took it and cracked it off a wall. Suddenly, Otmin pushed me forward and I fell. Jadis seized this opportunity and lashed my back with it. My eyes bulged with pain and a blood-curdling scream came out of mouth. My back felt like it was on fire but as cold as ice at the same time. She kept whipping me, each lash sending white- hot pain through my body until I felt numb. Blood trickled down my back and into my ruined dress, which was now in rags.

She got bored of whipping my back and propped me up against a wall. The cold wall was a small relief to the throbbing, but it was still painful for my back to be put next to it.

She looked at my for a minute and slapped me, full force. Ronny couldn't do anything. I looked over to him and saw his eyes filled with fear for me. I gave him a small, very strained, smile before she slapped me again. She put her sharp, pointed, claw-like nails to my cheek and she pressed them painfully against it, dragging them down my face. I touched the new wounds on my cheek: three long scratches stretched across the right hand side of my face. She slammed my head against the wall, causing more pain to my little body.

I could feel the blood trickle through my hair and down my face, but I still looked at her defiantly. She slapped me again with her hand, a ring on her hand cutting into my left eyebrow. I glared at her, as she went to the grand finale: breaking my leg. She stamped on my right shin, and an ear-slitting crack issued from it. Another scream came from my mouth as the freshly inflicted pain echoed through my body. My scream was so loud that some birds in the nearby forest flew from their tree. The bone on my leg looked ugly and distorted and my stomach wrenched, threatening to bring up this morning's breakfast.

"Jadis," I said to her, weakly.

She looked directly at me.

"I can't say anything except, I feel sorry for you and I forgive you for what you have done to me."

She yelled as she raised her staff, about to change me to stone. I braced myself, before I was lifted up into the air, her staff just hitting my foot. The slow, dull ache of being slowly turned into a statue went through my leg and onto my other one. I felt triumphant, although I was in incredible pain. However, that didn't stop me from making a comment! With the adrenaline running through my body, I remembered a quote from a movie back home. I altered it to the correct tense.

"Well Jadis, you will always remember this as the day you almost killed Narnia's Guardian!"

Ronny flew away from the castle as I laughed to myself.

"Good ol' Pirates of the Caribbean!"

"Should I know what you are talking about mistress?" asked the gryphon.

"No Ronny, you wouldn't understand! It's a long story, so we'd better get back to Aslan's camp, quickly! I think this battle we're supposed to fight is going to be closer than we originally thought." I groaned as the adrenaline subsided and the incredible pain took over. I remembered the spell that was gradually working its way up my body.

"Er, Ronny? I think we should hurry up because I'm not going to be able to hold on to you much longer," I moaned.

"Don't worry mistress, I promise to get you to Aslan in one piece," he told me calmly.

"Good, because he is probably the only one who can help me. Ronny, I wouldn't really want to arrive in more pieces than one, 'cause that would just be awkward." I smiled. The spell was overcoming the pain, a cool numbing sensation beating the burning pain in my back and leg. Slowly, it was working up my chest and turning by body into a statue more and more in each passing second.

"Thank you Iron Feather!" I called up to him smiling, defying the pain, as my head turned to stone. My hands were still free, so I tightened my grip on his legs and his claws dug into my shoulders just a little bit harder than before. I went numb, and couldn't move a single joint in my body. Time seemed to freeze for me.

Iron Feather's Point of View

"Thank you, Iron Feather!"

Then, there was silence. She gripped my legs harder and then she turned to stone. She was a lot heavier than when we left the castle: not that it was a problem. Gryphons can carry a much bigger weights than humans, or stone statues for that matter. I looked down on the stone girl I was carrying. Rachel's eyes were closed, her hair was being invisibly played by the wind and she was smiling.

"I know you can't hear me, so I'll say this now and when we get you back to normal: you're a lot like your mother. Kind, forgiving, smart, loving. Even though we have only known each other for a few hours, I can already tell that you have these qualities: one of them being headstrong! I can't be of service to your mother, so my life lies with you, my young mistress."

We flew over many mountains, trees and rivers until we finally found the Stone Table and Aslan's camp. Dawn had already broken, and the sun was beginning to rise. I landed on the grass outside the camp and saw a young girl come towards me. Two boys on horses were in the distance and trotting over and another girl was taking arrows out of a target and putting them inside her quiver. The youngest of them looked as if she was younger than Rachel but I could tell that there wasn't a large age gap between them. She came close to me and I decided to ask her if she could take me to Aslan.

"Excuse me Daughter of Eve, but what is your name?"

"Lucy Pevensie, sir."

I laughed at her formality.

"Lucy Pevensie, I have your friend here. Would you mind telling Aslan that I've got the Guardian here? I can get her to his tent but I don't want to tell him myself."

"It's quite alright. Oh, Rachel…" she whispered, touching the stone girl's arm fondly.

I grabbed Rachel and lifted so that she was just off the ground. The young Pevensie was so bubbly and talkative, that it was infectious: I couldn't help but like her! Her wisdom was beyond her years and she had the makings of an amazing queen.

It was a while before we arrived at Aslan's tent, but just before we got there, a large crowd was gathering. I could hear them from several minutes away and it sounded like they were angry. Lucy ran towards the tent but didn't go in. She merely asked if he could come out.

The Great Lion was even more majestic than the ancient scriptures foretold. In his presence, I felt safe but also scared. It was an odd sensation, but I could literally feel the power rolling off him.

"Welcome loyal gryphon. You have our thanks for bringing our Guardian back from the Witch."

I ducked my head down as far as it would go and my wing stretched so far across me that I thought that it would break off.

"It was an honour sire. Her mother saved my father an age ago, so I was just returning the favour."

"Since you have saved her, you are free of your favour to her. You can go and become a wild gryphon again."

It hadn't crossed my mind that if I saved her, I could leave and become wild again. However, I had waited many moons for this day, but now that it had come, I wasn't sure that I was ready to go back to my old lifestyle.

"Your majesty, with all due respect, I think I will stay with Rachel. I have been looking forward to this day for my entire life and now that I have done what is necessary, I want to serve her and become her friend. It will almost help me to stay in contact with her mother: one of the most admired figures in Narnian history."

Aslan chuckled, "Thank you, dear friend. Your loyalty will help bring Rachel back."

"Oh Aslan! I'm so grateful, I'm speechless!"

I left the statue beside him just as the cry of a dwarf interrupted us.

"Jadis! The Queen of Narnia! Empress of the Lone Islands!"

I looked to where the noise was coming from. I was horrified to see the Witch being carried into the camp by four Cyclops-like creatures.

"Ginarrbrik." I growled, recognising the mean little dwarf. I never liked him: he was such a kiss-up to Jadis. He was incredibly horrible, but completely pathetic at fighting. He could only handle a bow and his level of skill was insulting to archers. Well, at least it was when I had last seen him practising. I flapped my wings and stood beside Lucy Pevensie and her siblings. The atmosphere was filled with tension,

The small dwarf walked in between the two lines of the Narnians before the Witch was lowered down, her icy crown almost completely disappeared, her power over Narnia gone with it. She stood up and you could tell that she meant business just by her body posture. Even her beady black eyes were full of some sort of a despicable plan that could be set it motion.

This lady was cunning and conniving, and many a noble soldier have fallen to her mind games. Her dark eyes darted from the four humans, lingering on the brown-haired boy standing behind me. Her gaze then switched to Aslan and then she looked in horror at the smiling statue of Rachel. She opened her mouth and I knew that every word that came out of her mouth meant something. I wasn't looking forward to this.

**A/N Its finally up! Thank goodness :D Just want to thank everybody who has reviewed this story: you guys have made me so happy! So, please give me your thoughts and review! **

**Xx Elemental Angel xX**


	14. Chapter 13 Home Again

**A/N Hey guys! I've been very busy (again) and I haven't been able to update ****I have got a gigantic chemistry test on Monday and another huge Spanish one of Tuesday, so I'm very busy 'revising' So, I mightn't update soon (sob!) Well anyway, thank you all for your reviews: they make me so happy! This might be the only chapter from another person's POV, just letting you know. We're finally getting back on track to the LLW original story line, but i will still put loads of OV chapters into it. NOTE: this won't be followed by Aslan being killed, the battle, yada yada yada, that will happen later on. I own nothing and on with the show! :D**

Chapter Thirteen ~ Home again

Susan's Point of view

"You have a traitor in your midst Aslan." The witch began.

It didn't take a genius to tell who she was aiming this at.

"His offence was not against you." Aslan replied, calmly. The Narnians would not stop growling at the Witch, but I couldn't blame them.

"Have you forgotten the laws upon which Narnia was built?"

"Do not cite the Deep Magic to me, Witch. I was there when it was written." Aslan growled angrily.

"Then you'll remember well that, every traitor belongs to me. His blood is my property."

Peter unsheathed his sword and stepped forward. "Try and take him then."

I could tell that his face was attempting to look brave and stony, but it didn't faze the Witch though.

"Do you really think that mere force will deny me my right?" She faced him with a smirk playing at her lips, "little king?"

She was really starting to 'poke a bear with a stick.' She turned away and Peter stepped back, all bravery gone from his face and looking rather offended.

"Aslan knows that I have blood as the law demands," she turned and faced our soldiers and bellowed, "all of Narnia will be overturned and perish in fire and water. That boy," she pointed at Edmund, "will die, at the Stone Table." Shocked gasps and angry grunts of frustration filled the air as she finished. That was devious of her and it was definitely going to leave Aslan questioning himself. I didn't care about the war at the minute; the safety of my brother was much more important.

"As is tradition." The Witch concluded.

She lowered her hand. "You dare not refuse me." Her eyes darted to Rachel and then back to Aslan. A cunning smile made its way to her face. "Tell me Aslan, is it impossible to look after humans? It seems to me that your army cannot protect them. Are you really going to send them to war, where our superior numbers will defeat them easily? You could just send them home and this will all be forgotten about and we can go our separate ways. This is my final offer before we declare war on you." She announced before casting her icy glare on Aslan again. She started talking once more, "or do they have to end up like your beloved Guardian?" she finished and yet again, there was another one of her evil smiles. I was really starting to dislike that smirk, and I hated her even more.

But on the other hand, maybe she did have a logical point. I mean, the four of us could go back home and leave the memories of Narnia behind us. Our lives wouldn't be in danger anymore and we could live normally again. This place has shown me a lot, but still, I don't think that it's the best place for us to be.

The Narnians were shouting and causing an uproar before Aslan calmly said, "Enough."

The army stopped making a commotion and silence fell.

"I shall talk with you alone." The lion turned and headed into his tent, the Witch following closely behind him.

We sat down on the grass near the tent flap, the Narnians talking quietly amongst themselves. I often found Lucy, Peter and Edmund looking at the stone statue that was our friend. Did I really want my family to become like her? I certainly didn't want to be the sister of a stone figure, that's for sure.

"Maybe we should listen to her." I said in my serious voice.

"What?" Lucy looked up at me, surprise and bewilderment in her facial features.

"We can't just leave!" Edmund protested.

"Haven't we already had this conversation, Su? You were the one who wanted to start more training as soon as possible!" Peter told me.

"I know but, do you really want to become a statue like Rachel?"

We all looked around to see the smiling figure, injuries evident on her face.

"Su, that's exactly why we can't leave! They'll turn the whole army into chess pieces if we do!" Lucy spoke up.

"Lu, just stay out of this. I'm only looking out for you."

"What do you mean 'stay out of this'? I'm going to be a queen just like you if we survive this, and we have to stay here! I'm not just some little kid anymore!" she shouted back at me.

I had never heard her shout at me so loudly before.

"If it helps, Peter and I are staying here as well. There's nothing you can do that will change our minds." Ed commented, folding his arms.

I looked at both of their faces and could tell that they were being perfectly honest with me. They weren't just going to let me decide what they were going to do. My two youngest siblings… weren't so young after all. They had matured since they'd come here so, maybe I should stop worrying about them. They're big enough to look after themselves.

"You're right. It's just… I don't want you both to grow up as quickly. I still think that Lucy is the little baby that I held in my arms a long time ago. Maybe it's time for me to grow up a little bit more as well."

"Su, you're really freaking me out here! You sounded exactly like mum when you said that." Edmund smirked.

"I take back all I just said about Ed."

Ed nudged me and Lucy giggled. Peter looked like he was on another planet. Edmund started pulling up some of the grass and I went to see what other injuries Rachel had obtained during her time with the Witch. Her leg looked oddly shaped, her face had several injuries but when I got to her back, I gasped. Long, deep gashes covered it, and the pain she'd gone through must have been excruciating. I gently touched the stone wounds and looked at my friend fondly. I felt even worse when I realized that the rags she was wearing were once her beautiful party dress.

After looking at Rachel, I sat down next to Peter and started playing with a long piece of grass, trying not to think of the consequences that Ed could face if Aslan couldn't make a deal with the Witch. Ed was the most nervous out of all of us and you could tell: it was like the grass had punched him or something. Then the Witch emerged from the tent and a feeling of dread washed over me. She kept her gaze locked on Edmund and went over to her chair.

Aslan came out of the tent and looked slightly sad. I feared the worst for my youngest brother.

"She has renounced her claim on the Son of Adam's blood."

The whole valley was filled with cheers of relief from the Narnians.

"How do I know that your promise will be kept?"

Aslan roared ferociously and loudly. I think if I had been standing any closer my eardrums would have burst. The Witch was lifted up by four Cyclops' and carried away and into the distance.

I grabbed my brother and pulled him into a hug before chatting with some fauns about how great Aslan was. It was strange that Lucy wasn't joining in the celebrations, which was very unusual for her, but then she started talking happily with some dwarfs.

Once everything had calmed down, my siblings and I went up to Aslan, to try and convince him to turn Rachel back. We all knew he could do it, but we were scared just in case he refused. To tell you the truth, I didn't really think that he would have any reason to not turn her back, but there was always a slight possibility that he wouldn't.

He was in his tent talking to a gryphon. Apparently, it was the one that brought Rachel back from the Witch's home. Lucy said that he had talked to him before the Witch had arrived and he seemed pretty harmless. I wasn't entirely sure because he had been in the Witch's house for a very long time and he could have switched 'teams.'

Aslan came out of his tent, followed by the gryphon. Aslan noticed that we were standing near his tent, and motioned for us to come over. We walked over to the stone statue of Rachel, and Aslan studied her for a few minutes. He often made heavy sighs when he came across an injury, before turning to face us.

"Your friend is very lucky that Iron Feather was there, otherwise she might not be here. Even from just looking at the wounds I can tell that the Witch was intending to kill, or severely injure, the Guardian," He paused and looked at her back again, "and I can also tell that she has lost a lot of blood. We have to be very careful with her, as she will be very frail. Do you understand that?" Aslan told us.

We all nodded. It might be tough, but I could tell that my brothers and sister wanted Rachel back more than anything at the minute. They needed her. I needed her.

"Very well." The Lion said before breathing on the statue.

At the start nothing happened, but then a slight hint of colour emerged on the tip of her fingers. It slowly worked down her body, and she groaned as her joints gradually unfroze. She gasped and fell onto Aslan, grabbing his mane and gasping for air. Once she got her breath back, she looked up at us and her eyes filled with tears. She looked incredibly shocked, before screaming and bending her knee. She flexed her back into a weird position and fell to the ground, her breath coming in short, laboured pants as she flexed her fingers in and out of a fist. Peter and Edmund helped her roll onto her side to try and ease the pain that her back was giving her. Then it hit me.

"Lucy your cordial!" I shouted over to my sister.

She looked confused for a minute, before fumbling with her belt and removing the small bottle from its leather pocket. She unscrewed the cap and bent down to the panting girl, before letting one small drop of the precious liquid fall between Rachel's parted red lips. Her breathing eased and the bone that had been jutting out of her leg slowly started to fix itself. The gashes on her back started healing as well. She looked awful, her back in particular. Blood covered it and it did not look pleasant. I actually started to worry that they could become infected before I saw the wounds patch themselves together, forming many long white scars across her back.

There were wounds on her face as well: including a rather nasty scratch across her cheek. That one was one of the few that didn't disappear. Perhaps it was because it wasn't as severe as the ones on her back and her broken leg.

Rachel closed her eyes and… went to sleep? Peter picked her up bridal style and took her into his tent, gently putting her down on his bed. It was much more convenient than trekking halfway across the camp to her tent, so we left her there to sleep. We went around our normal duties after that: I went to go and train with my bow and arrows, Lucy went with the dryads and fauns to become fluent with her dagger, and the boys went with Orieus to learn to fight on horseback.

My two brothers were some of the most talented swordsmen in the camp and I was getting better at hitting targets. I really was proud of my family: that included Rachel, one of the only real friends I think I've ever had.

**A/N Reviews are welcomed! Please do! :D **

**Xx Elemental Angel xX**


	15. Chapter 14 Complications

**A/N Hello everybody! I want to say that this has been my longest chapter yet, with a grand total of over 5800 words! Just want to say a BIG thank you for all of your reviews for my last chapter **** and I will put up an authors note thanking you all for reviewing, favouriting and alerting my story **** I couldn't have done it without you guys! And I wanna put a SUPER MAJASSIVE shout out to Immortalis79, who has been reviewing for ages now and given me big confidence boosts for this story. On with the show! I own nothing 'cept Rachel and my OC's.**

**Chapter Fourteen ~ Complications **

Rachel's POV

I woke up to the sound of people scuffling around. I sat up, and then promptly fell out of bed.

"Oof!" The sound escaped my lips.

Thankfully, a blanket tumbled out of the bed as well, so it didn't hurt too much. Something was swinging above me and I figured out that it was Peter's hammock. I stood up and rubbed my backside before I looked over to see Pete and Ed staring at me, their bodies still. Ed was holding a sword in his hand.

Then I realized that I was back at the camp. I couldn't remember Aslan getting me out of my frozen state, but I felt a whole lot better now than when I left the Witch's house. My whole body was buzzing with some sort of energy and it was a strange yet comfortable feeling. My memories of being in the castle were fuzzy, but I couldn't help but think that there were some things that were important that I had to remember… but what were they?

"Huh, good riddance!" I thought to myself.

I was incredibly happy that I was back and fighting fit, so happy that I ran forward and enveloped the two boys in front of me in one big hug. They hugged me back, and after a while we released each other.

"Fancy meeting you two here." I said sarcastically, smiling.

"Long time no see." They both said at exactly the same time, making them look at each other weirdly. I laughed at their faces.

"So what were you two going to get before you rudely woke me up?" I said, angrily, but they both knew I was joking.

"We were just-" Edmund started, before Peter elbowed him in the ribs.

"We were just checking to make sure that you were okay." He added a bit too quickly. I looked at Ed and saw him attempting to slowly move it out of sight. I sighed.

"You were going to sword practice, weren't you?"

They both nodded.

"We just didn't want you to feel left out." Peter added, sounding slightly sad.

"Who said that I was going to be left out?" I told them, heading towards the flap.

"Rachel you need to rest. You've lost a lot of blood and we don't want you collapsing from exhaustion."

"Collapsing again," I added under my breath.

I walked up to him, "Are you saying that just because I'm a little bit injured that I cant fight? Peter, this is exactly what the battle is going to be like, and we have to keep fighting no matter what the odds are: we need to train harder and longer so we're ready for it. We won't win it out of sheer luck, but by pure determination, commitment and faith."

"I don't want you to get hurt again so soon." He looked at me, his blue eyes soft, kind and caring. Peter could make any girl swoon on the spot, but I was going to have to try and fight against his charms.

"Peter, if this is because I'm a girl-"

"No it's not because you're a girl and it's not that I don't think you're a capable fighter, it's because-"

"Because what, Peter? Have you seen the sword training group? I'm the only girl in it. I am going to be the only female on the front line: the rest are going to step back and watch the battle from a much safer location. It's just going to be me and you know why? Because women are treated like we are meant to be home cooking and cleaning instead of working and fighting battles. That's what it's like in your time, Pete, not mine. Girls are in the army AND the navy. They're sports stars and heroes, _respected people._ We aren't treated any different in the Twenty-First century than men are; we're no longer second class citizens. Don't treat the females here like you do at home." I pleaded with him, getting closer and closer to him until our bodies were pressing next to each others.

I completely changed my facial expression as I changed my mind. I glared at him, my need to be accepted replaced by the need of equality for the female gender. I would have been a lot more intimidating if the top of my head didn't reach his shoulder. Then he did something unexpected: he brought his lips down on mine.

My eyes were kept open by the shock of his lips moving against mine, but then I closed them. He was a good kisser, I have to admit, and I felt safe and protected. It was a soft kiss; however passion was imbued in it. Warmth coursed through my body, one I had never felt before. His lips tasted like mint and… strawberries (I think), but long hours of effort and strength from sword fighting as well. It was an unusual, but amazing taste at the same time. Then I realized that Ed was still standing there, watching us.

I pulled away quickly and looked at Peter and Edmund in shock. What had Peter just done? I really wasn't looking for a relationship at the moment; in fact it was probably one of those things I really didn't want to deal with yet. Ed turned and walked out of the tent, pushing the flap away from him and flinging it back with a huge amount of force.

"That's exactly why I can't let you fight," Peter said from behind me, folding his arms. He was obviously referring to the kiss.

"So you kiss me? In front of your own brother? Pete that is not cool." I said before turning away from him and storming out. He grabbed my upper arm.

"I only did it because I care about you Rachel. I don't want to see you get hurt again, because the last time I couldn't stop worrying! Even the night that you were taken to the Witch's house I dreamt of you!"

My face softened at the thought of this. He was worried about me? Then I remembered the matter on hand.

"Pete, that's not good enough. I understand that you care about me, but that doesn't give you the right to just waltz on in here and kiss me! I care about you, Pete, but I also care for Edmund. I have to get all of this sorted out before I can go into a relationship. Pete, I love the relationship that we have now: however short it has been. Please, this is slowly tearing me apart." I felt my eyes well up. I had been through so much during the past few days and I was really starting to get very stressed out. He saw the water in my eyes and pulled me into a hug whilst I cried on his chest.

After a while, I composed myself and wiped my eyes before going out of his tent and towards my own to get my sword. As soon as I found it, I was about to head out to training, before realizing what I was wearing. My once beautiful dress was now in shreds: not leaving much to the imagination. I flung my wardrobe open and delved into it, looking for what I needed. I found a baggy white shirt and red leggings. I suddenly had a brain wave and a smile formed on my lips.

"If Pete thinks that all girls dress in skirts and dresses, then he'd better brace himself for what he's about to get." I thought to myself, taking one of my daggers from it sheath and putting the blade next to the white fabric.

Peter's POV

Edmund hadn't turned up yet at sword training, which would have been unusual if I hadn't known the circumstances. He never missed it. Ed was actually very talented with sword, although I don't think I'd ever say that to him. He could even give me a tough time in practice, and I was one of the best.

I was in the middle of sparring with a faun when Ed came over. He looked pale and depressed and… angry? Anyhow, I eventually disarmed the faun, just as grunts of disapproval and sounds of… well, something different went through the air. That was when I saw Rachel walking towards us.

"Sweet," I said numbly,

"Merciful," Edmund continued in his trance like state,

"Pancakes," We both said at the same time. We had definitely have had too much brother bonding lately.

Rachel looked incredibly daring today: nothing like her usual self! She had red 'short shorts' on (she had explained Twenty-First century clothing to me a few days earlier) and another piece of modern clothing was around her abdomen. I think she had called it a sports crop top or something. She had black army-like boots on and her usual silver bracers and shield were present. She was definitely showing a lot of skin today!

"Hello," she said, her voice hiding a smile,

"Uh, what you said," mumbled Ed from beside me,

"Are you sure that's appropriate for sword practice?" I asked her. After the words left my mouth, I immediately wanted to grab them in my hands, crush them, stamp on them, chew them into tiny pieces and swallow them back up.

"Why, Sir Peter? I just wanted to try out a Twenty-First century exercise look. Is it that distracting? Should I go back and change?" she asked me, hiding behind her thick black lashes, giving me a look that could get her away with murder. She looked like one of those innocent puppies that you would see for sale in newspapers and advertisements in shop windows.

"No!" Ed and I both cried at the same time. No more bonding time for this week, that's for sure.

"Oh! Then if that's sorted then lets get to work lads!" she shouted over her shoulder, addressing us and the rest of the group. I had a feeling in my stomach, one that I had mixed feelings about. This was going to be a _long_ training session.

Rachel's POV

"Ha ha! I have finally made Peter squirm! Mission complete!" I thought to myself. The only bad thing was that everybody at training was staring at me. Not that I hate my body or anything, because I think I have a nice enough one. It's pretty average, curves in the right places, skinny but not too skinny (I like eating ok?) and quite a bit more muscular than the average girl (due to my gymnastics and martial arts training.)

I am beginning to notice that my skin is going slightly tan. I love being in the sun: it's so much more exciting than being in the rain, mainly because I prefer my clothes not sticking to me. Narnia, thankfully, is usually sunny: I think that I've only experienced one cloudy day in almost two weeks of being here. Wet London or sunny Narnia… it really doesn't take a mastermind to figure that one out.

Anyway, Orieus was teaching us today (as per usual) and the first thing he did when he arrived was look at me. Even though I felt comfortable in my own body, it didn't mean that I wasn't self-conscious. He told us what we would be learning today and stood to the side, half shouting at us to get into pairs. I went with my friend and sparring partner, a faun, called Zahor. I remember my first sword lesson…

_I arrived on the hill alone. Peter and Edmund had gone on ahead of me because I was trying to figure out what would be suitable to wear to this kind of practice. I had just come back with Susan after archery practice wearing a dress (which I felt incredibly uncomfortable about wearing) and decided to change._

_I finally decided to wear my training outfit and my old school pullover on the top half. My bracers were on the lower part of my arm, my shield was strapped onto my right wrist and on the bottom half were my training leggings. A pair of tan boots were on my feet as I walked out of my tent, my sword at my side and ready for action._

"_Nice of you to join us, soldier." Orieus bellowed as I finally came towards them._

"_Sorry," I replied sheepishly._

"_Since you're late, you shall be our training demo."_

"_But I don't know how to handle a blade." I protested._

"_I know," he replied. I swear I could have seen a smile on his lips._

"_Now soldier, all you have to do is disarm me. Go!" he commanded, unsheathing his blade._

_I unsheathed mine and nervously put my hands on the hilt. We circled around for a minute before he lunged at me. I rolled out of the way and stood up again, my hands shaking. He hit my arm with the pommel and I gasped: he had hit a pressure point in my bicep. I spun out of the way of his oncoming attacks as the feeling slowly came back into my arm. _

_He raised his sword and repeatedly hit mine. His strokes were too fast for me to dodge or pathetically block. Before I knew it, he delivered a strong blow to my sword and it spun from my grip. I felt the cold steel of his sword against my neck._

"_It looks like we have to do a lot with this one." He said, cockily, as he turned towards the group. They started laughing: even Peter and Edmund were trying to hide their smiles behind their hands. I saw that I was being humiliated and I wasn't going to stand for it. He was still facing the men as I touched the hilt of his sword. I smiled evilly as I remembered a heating spell. After a while, the hilt was beginning to get warmer and warmer until it finally turned red-hot._

"_Gah!" Orieus complained, doing a weird dance that looked as if he was jumping up and down. He dropped his blade and held his hand, and I saw my chance. I picked up my own sword, sweep kicked his legs and when he fell over, I put my own sword to his throat._

"_Rule number one about fighting. No matter who your opponent is, never EVER let your guard down." I glared at him for a minute before letting my sword drop to the ground and putting out my hand to help him up. Ah, those were the words my Sensei had first said to me about martial arts. He might have been strict, but he was a fair, honourable and great teacher._

_I smiled at him and as I was helping him up, but he yanked my arm downwards and I fell on the ground beside him._

"_Good match," He said smiling. The swordsmen behind me were in fits of laughter._

"_You've got a lot of potential soldier," he added. I think that 'soldier' was becoming his pet name for me._

_I grinned at him and walked back towards the group,_

"_For a girl!" I heard him shout from behind me._

_I snapped my wrist and remembered another spell. A mixture of fire and light appeared on my palm and I shot my arm out, the spell landing mere inches from the laughing centaur. He raised his front legs up in the air in fright before coming back down again. He stared at me while I wiggled my eyebrows at him playfully, a smile threatening to break out across my face. The Narnians laughed again, and a few of them clapped me on the back as I took my place beside Peter and Edmund. _

"_Looks like we've got a fighter!" proclaimed a faun, who was to become known as Zahor, my sparring partner. _

I smiled at the memory.

"Nice to see ya, Zahor."

"You too Rachel. It's good to see you back, now I can beat you again and again and again. Just like old times!"

"Don't count on it Zackie, I'm getting better and better everyday!" I deliberately used my nickname for him. He got annoyed when I started using it, but then (like the big ol' softie I know he is) he eventually got used to it. Until some of the other swordsmen started calling him it as well. Let's just say he 'warned' them not to call him Zackie.

"Says who?"

"Says me." Orieus said from behind him, making him jump a foot in the air.

I laughed at him before 'subtly' covering it up with a coughing fit.

Zackie glared at me before unsheathing his sword. I did exactly the same thing, marvelling in my sword's beauty as the sunlight caught the shining steel and engravings.

I put both of my hands on the hilt and we started sparring. I blocked as he brought his sword down on my head and he spun as I swiped at his side. The dance continued for a while before I saw a weak spot in his defences. I thrust my sword towards the gap and the tip hit Zackie's heavily armoured torso. I didn't apply enough force that it would pierce his skin (or fur, whatever floats your boat) just so hard that it would make him tumble back. He staggered back and then put the side of his sword against mine and started to make a circle. Typical, he always uses that technique in an attempt to disarm me. Well, I say attempt when I really mean that it works all the time.

But this time I was ready for him. I had gone over the calculations and ways to disarm him when he started to do this, so I let him continue making his circle. Then I spun ninety degrees on my left foot and raised my sword above my head, before bringing it down on his blade. The force broke his hold on the hilt and it flipped out of his hands, before sticking into the ground near Orieus. The black haired centaur looked up in surprise before seeing the sparring that was going on. I held the point of my scimitar to his throat as he put his hands up in defeat. I smiled.

"Heck yeah! I'm finally getting hold of this thing! Can I get a whoop-whoop?" I yelled in the air, joyously.

"Whoop-whoop." Orieus emotionlessly said from behind me. I jumped, no, leaped a foot in the air.

"Dude, you seriously have **got** stop doing that to people," I replied, catching my breath and holding my hand over my racing heart, "could we get you, like, a bell or something? One of those little ones that cats have?"

I could hear laughing from behind me and I turned and saw… Orieus smiling? At last, I had cracked the hardest nut, even if it was only a small grin.

'Finally!' I thought to myself.

"I have to say, that was very well done soldier." The centaur commented.

"I will take that as a huge compliment Orieus." I smirked.

I removed my blade from Zackie's neck and extended my hand out to him. He took it and I helped him back up onto his feet.

"It seems to me that you're ready for a more advanced swordsman, Rach."

"Don't worry Zack, I'll always have time to kick your butt, I mean, spar with you." Another smirk found its way onto my lips.

"You're so funny, you know that?"

"I've been told." A cheeky smile emerged across my face.

He came up and gave me a 'noogie' before Orieus found me another partner: a tan centaur called Kalkol. We were evenly matched and we couldn't find a weakness in either of our defences. I still wasn't the best at handling my sword but I was learning quickly. I was sweating from the exercise of the sparring, and the heat from the sun didn't help either, but I enjoyed it. The warm, golden Narnian rays of sunlight hit my skin and I could even feel myself tanning. It's a wonder I don't get sunburnt!

Training ended for the day (much too early for my liking) and I sheathed my sword quickly, wanting to avoid Peter and Edmund for a while. I ran down the hill and towards my tent. I changed quickly into a light green dress and secured my red leather dagger belt around my waist, along with the beautifully made bow (and quiver full of arrows) around my shoulder. My bow was a strong, almost black wood and the quiver was silver with a red lion on it. The arrows were silver with white feathers. Susan had been able to get her hands on them and when she gave them to me I couldn't thank her enough.

The next lesson I had was with the Dryads and Lucy. We were both learning how to use our daggers properly but Lucy wasn't under the same training as me. I had to throw a dagger and hit a target on the bulls-eye a hundred yards away, while Lucy was learning the basics, like cutting ropes and tearing off pieces of clothing to make bandages for wounds. Although I had heard from Susan that Lucy had very good aim with her dagger: even hitting the bulls-eye with it when Su was supposed to be training!

Archery with Susan was after that: my favourite lesson because it was getting close to dinner. Susan was pushed harder than I was but we both learned to hit targets, use arrows like I use my daggers and using the bow like a club.

"Ugh, I am so tired!" I complained to Su and Lu when we walked out of the dining tent or 'The Tent of Nomming' as we had nicknamed it. We were going to have a sleepover in my tent that night and Lucy was the most excited out of the three of us. The poor little thing had never been to one! A couple of days later we were going to have one in their tent, so I was as happy as Larry. We went our separate ways for a little while so that the tent could be set up and for them to get their things.

I decided to go down to the little river, not far from were I was standing. Apparently this was were Lucy and Susan were attacked by wolves the day that Peter was knighted and Ed was brought back to Camp. I felt peaceful there and if you were ever looking for me after training, you would usually find me near the river or on the beach with Tia and Jue-lanai. It turns out Jue-lanai has a friend called Sebbe- fiya, Seb for short. Seb was a dark haired mermaid, with a sparkling blue tail and hair that went down to her tail, like Juel's. I saw Juel more often though and we talked about everything. Seb was a lot like Juel, and they could pass for twins' personality wise.

They were great when I needed a friend, one that didn't have the surname 'Pevensie.' We talked a lot about random stuff, although we did talk about many serious subjects as well.

Anyway, I was making my way down to my favourite spot when I saw Ed sitting against a tree, skimming rocks on the water. "Time to face the music." I thought to myself as I walked towards him.

"Hiya!" I said enthusiastically, waving over to him. My voice sounded cheery, like nothing that had happened earlier occurred.

"Hi Rachel." He replied glumly.

I could tell he was still fuming over the whole thing, because he used my full name. I saw his jaw clench and unclench as he picked up another stone and threw it into the water, not bothering to try and make it skim.

"Ed, I'm just as annoyed about this just as much as you are. I didn't expect it to happen and if I did, I would have done anything to stop it."

He scoffed, "Don't try and be all 'perfect and talented peacemaker' on me. I know you like Pete, everybody does. He's the perfect one, Susan's the smartest, Lucy's the 'ray of sunshine' and I'm just the one in the corner, shadowed and shunned by the achievements and qualities of my brother and sisters. I'm just plain old Ed."

"Is that why you went to the White Witch?"

He nodded, "I wanted to be the one in the spotlight for once. I wanted to be the one that had attention and power. It turns out that I had to be saved by Aslan's soldiers and be known as a traitor. _The_ traitor." He put his head in his hands.

"Everybody makes mistakes, Ed, even Pete. But if we learn from them we become a better people. You've learned your lesson, but what are you going to take away from your experience that will make you a better man? You're unique in your own way, so don't change your personality just because you want to be more like somebody else."

He still wouldn't look at me, and I sighed.

"Look, Ed, is there any way for me to make it up to you? I feel awful about the whole thing, and I think that it's all my fault. Is there _anything _I can do?"

He slowly took his hands away from his face and looked at me.

"Anything?" he asked.

I nodded.

"There is one thing I can think of…" he trailed off.

"What is it?"

His chocolate brown eyes were solemn.

"Kiss me."

My eyes widened, "Ed, are you sure that-"

He sighed and cut me off, "I knew you wouldn't do it. I knew it was a long-shot, but now," he laughed, but it wasn't his usual warm laugh, "now I know that Pete will always be better than me, he'll always get what I want."

"Come on Ed, you know that's not true! Pete loves you, no matter how well he disguises his feelings for you. He would easily put his life before yours, in fact he would do it for anyone related to him. I can tell that he would. And deep down, I know that you love him too. We've just got to look deep, very deep, way, way, way deep down and I know there is a spark of love for him, no matter how small it is."

"You were doing well until that last part. That bit hurt!" He rubbed his arm like I had punched him. I laughed at his antics.

"Eddie you know what I mean!" I said giggling.

"So are we cool?" I asked him as I stood up.

His face was the description of confusion.

"Oh, forgot! You aren't from the Twenty-First century. Ermm… Ah! Are we on speaking terms?"

"I think that you've forgotten that I'm not from the Nineteenth century! Yeah, we 're 'cool'," He replied, putting air floats around cool, "but I'm still angry about what Pete did. You did say 'anything' and you know what I want."

I laughed, before seeing that his face was deadly serious.

"Oh you weren't joking…" I trailed off.

"Nope! If you want me to be cool about the whole thing, then we have to even the scores."

"So now I'm a football match?" I raised one eyebrow.

His face went red with embarrassment, "No… No! Of course I didn't refer to you as a football match, I mean I did but I know you aren't one… but you'd be a great football match… ummm…"

"Just shut up Pevensie, or that mouth of yours is going to land you in a heck of a lot of trouble someday." I told him, putting my face closer to his. There was an awkward silence between us. "Well? Are you going to kiss me or not?"

"Why should I kiss you first?"

"Because the boy always kisses the girl first! It always happens in badly written books and soppy romance movies. I swear, those things make me want to be physically sick." I shuddered at the thought of the last movie I had seen back in London. It was two hours of torture for my mind and eyes.

"Fine." He almost growled, as he closed the gap between us.

I was ready for the kiss this time and my eyes fluttered shut as soon as his lips touched mine. This kiss was more intense than the one the one with Pete and it made me feel braver and stronger. I felt free. He tasted of strange spices: one in particular being cinnamon. He wasn't as good as Pete was, but this could well have been his first time kissing a girl that wasn't called mum. I smiled at the thought as Edmund kissed me, knowing that he knew I was smiling. He did something out of the ordinary and wrapped his arms around my waist and I shivered. His lips curved up in victory. I decided that I would try and make him do the same, so I wrapped by hands around his neck and played with the soft curls at the end of his hair. He shivered like I had and I smiled again, feeling triumphant and pulling away from him after a few more seconds.

"This won't change anything will it?" Ed asked, slightly breathless. It was exactly what Pete had said earlier.

"It didn't with Pete, and we wanted to make the scores even, didn't we?"

He pouted and it was one of the most adorable things I had ever seen.

"Aww look at little Eddie-weddie," I said in a baby voice, squeezing his cheeks and wiggling them so they made a noise, "ha ha you've got flubbery cheeks!" I laughed at my appalling grammar and his facial expression.

I started to walk back towards my tent to meet up with Su and Lu before yelling over my shoulder, "Ed, I wouldn't have wanted it to! Not something I want to do just yet! Oh, and I win!"

He knew that I was referring to the kiss and making each other shiver. He just shouted back, "Of course you did!"

A smile was plastered across my face as I went through the flap of my tent, finding Susan and Lucy getting ready for the sleepover.

"What's got you so happy?" Susan asked.

"In the tradition of sleepovers, you have to eat popcorn first and then tell secrets. Even I know that and I've only been to three of them!" I smirked, ignoring her question.

Both of the sisters looked at each other before smiling. I could almost see the telepathic waves going from their heads. They smiled.

"TELL US!" They both exclaimed, picking up a pillow each and hitting me as I ran towards my bed in a (failed) attempt to get a pillow and defend myself from the bombardment I was facing from the two sisters. I fell face first onto the mattress and covered my head as they hit me with the fluffy but deadly objects.

"Note to self," I thought, "don't tell them about pillow fights."

I scrambled to the head of my bed and armed myself, throwing some of the pillows at them and defending myself with others. One by one, the pillows were ripped open by our rough antics and feathers were thrown into the air, softly coming down to rest in the floor as the carnage continued. We hardly cared as we screamed and laughed as the remaining pillows were thrown at each other. We really were starting to become the best of friends and nothing was going to change that.

I knew from that moment that I was going to have a friendship that was going to last for a long time with the two girls that were hitting me with the comfortable and painful weapons of my destruction. They were my sisters and I was theirs. I finally had the siblings I never had, the family I never had, the friends I never had.

I was a Pevensie.

**A/N Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! Until next time…**

**Xx Elemental Angel xX**


	16. Chapter 15 Revelations

**A/N Hey guys! As per usual, I've been very stressed out with tests lately. I'm not even meant to be writing today! Three tests for next week, and they're all going on my report! Ahhhhhhh! Well anyway, here's the next chappie! And there has been a humongous achievement for this story, because it has reached one hundred reviews! Wooohooo! Couldn't have done it without all of you, so a super massive THANK YOU! And a hug are in order *hugs* So, as always, enjoy this chapter and review please! On with the show…**

Chapter Fifteen ~ Revelations

We had raided the kitchen of sweets and anything chocolate related. The cooks didn't mind, in fact they were quite glad to get rid of it: they said it ruined some of the warriors diets. Even though I was a soldier, I was still a girl; a girl that had a weak spot for sweet things. Dad called me his little sweet tooth back home because I was addicted to sugar. I'm not joking. We were sprawled out in odd positions across the floor, eating the unhealthy, rich food.

"So, Rachel," Lucy said with her mouth full of chocolate, "if you had to pick one of your weapons, what would it be?"

"Hmmm… that's a tough one…" I wondered. Then it came to me, "My favourite weapon is my martial art skills. Although, my sword is a great weapon and so are my bow and arrows and so are my… daggers." I finished, sheepishly. I had basically chosen every single weapon I had, completely avoiding the concept of Lucy's question. I chuckled along with the two sisters.

"But what about your magic?" Susan asked. I filled my cheeks with air and slowly blew out.

"It's complicated Su. I've been taught how to use my powers by my grandmother, but I can't summon huge amounts of power at one time. Whenever the tigers and panthers attacked, I didn't know what to do. I had had one swords lesson and I hardly knew how to use it. I had my daggers and I vaguely knew how to throw them. I think that it was a lot of beginners luck when I threw them."

"But Father Christmas told Susan that if she trusted in her bow that it wouldn't easily miss, so why couldn't your daggers follow the same theory?" Lucy stated, unwrapping another chocolate and popping it into her mouth

The youngest Pevensie had a very good point, "Lu, when I was fighting, I had no idea how to use my weapons. I was panicking, and I put all of my faith into those weapons to protect me. Now that I've explained it, it's beginning to sound more like your point is probably right! But that release of my magical energy was the most powerful thing my powers have ever let me do. I don't know how or why it did that, but I was really glad of it."

"So, don't have any control over your powers?" Susan inquired,

"No! It's not like that! I can make my magic do what I want it to do but I have to think about it a lot, maybe even reciting a spell or something like that."

"Ah…" the two girls nodded in acknowledgement.

"Anyway, lets move onto secrets!" Lucy explained, her face the definition of glee.

Su and I looked at each other before I said, "Uh oh…"

The youngest Pevensie smiled evilly at us.

My face was hit with a beam of sunlight. I groaned and put my arm over my face before I turned on my side, away from the daylight. I had gotten used to waking up early and going to bed late, but today I just wanted to lie on and sleep until midday. I heard Susan and Lucy groaning as well, so I decided that we'd better get up, despite my body's protests. I rubbed my eyes and stretched before pulling off the warm, comfortable covers and stepping onto the ground. It felt strange beneath my toes and I looked down. I smiled when I saw that I was standing on feathers.

I had a shower, got changed into my training outfit and went back to my bed. I sat on it as I saw Susan grab her dress and go into the bathroom. As I heard the door lock, I saw Lucy on the ground, sleeping again. I smiled at the sleeping girl who looked so sweet and innocent. I almost cooed as she started gently sucking on her thumb. Susan was finished with her shower and came out with her hair dripping. I sucked in some air and blew it at her, the water in her hair gone. She smiled at me thankfully before started to shake Lucy, attempting to wake her up.

I remembered what Lucy had done to Susan and I last night, so I stuck my index finger in my mouth and put it in her ear. It was disgusting, but it was a good way to wake someone up. She groaned in annoyance and she covered her ear with her hand, before reluctantly getting up.

"I should take a leaf out of your book, Rachel," Susan said as Lucy took the covers off, "because that's the fastest she's gotten up in a long time!" she exclaimed, earning a nudge from her sister.

"You're both horrible…" Lu mumbled sleepily as she grabbed her dress.

"Love you too, Luc." I smiled sweetly at her, making a heart with my hands. She glared at me before walking into the bathroom.

After Lucy was washed and dressed and our hair was done, we walked out of my tent and towards the dining tent. We passed the boys tent and I peered in, and I saw them sleeping. I signalled to the two girls to come over to me and look, and when they did we all had cunning smiles on our faces. We carefully lifted the flap and went in, tiptoeing across the room. I glanced over at Peter and I had to hold my nose to prevent myself from bursting into fits of laughter.

The future High King, the oldest of us all and the sensible, hardworking, sometimes bossy man (could you call him a man?) was… sucking his thumb. I smiled and whispered to both girls to come over to where I was and they had to hold their noses as well to stop themselves from laughing.

Edmund was different though: he was sleep talking. Well, it was more like sleep mumbling but it was hilarious. He was crying out for his Mum and I could tell he was having a nightmare.

"Mum, Mum! Please make the giant marshmallow stop eating me…" I. Was. Killing. Myself.

Both of the macho, fearless, warriors and future rulers were sleeping like five year olds. I swear, if I hadn't been standing there with Su and Lu with our 'plan' I would've been on the floor laughing my heart out.

Su was beside Ed and Lu was beside Pete. I nodded to them and they stuck their fingers in their mouths and then put them in their brothers ears before the groans of the two boys reached our ears and they grasped at the sides of their heads. They looked at their sisters in horror before trying to chase after them. Both of them got out of their hammocks too quickly and they fell on the floor, giving us enough time to make our escape.

The girls tent wasn't far away from the boys, so we ran to their and fell onto the floor laughing. I lay on my back with my legs in the air and my hands on my stomach laughing. My breath came in rapid gasps in an attempt to fill my lungs with the air they needed. They screamed for oxygen, but I was laughing too much to pay attention.

Susan and Lucy were almost screeching and we looked at each other, before something cold was poured over us. We immediately stopped giggling and looked up to see who had thrown water over us. Ed and Pete were dressed and ready for the day which frankly, I couldn't believe. How on earth do boys do that? It's like they've got supersonic changing powers or something!

The two boys roared with laughter, not noticing that Lucy was slowly making her way towards an empty bucket and the bathroom. Two minutes later and the boys were soaked and in shock at what their youngest sister had done, before sprinting out of their sisters tent and back towards their own.

Thus, the great water fight had begun. It wasn't even breakfast yet and I was already drenched: this time not with sweat. We were all laughing and looking like crazed animals, but we didn't care. Before we knew it, some Narnians were even filling up buckets and choosing sides: the male side or the female side. For a while, training and the war was forgotten about and we just had fun, like normal children our age.

The golden Narnian sun blessed us with its heat as we messed about in the little creek that I had been to the night before or near the Pevensies' tents. Even Aslan got involved by using his great paw to flick some water at us! In the end, duty (or food) called us to end the splash brawl, and we went to get our lunch. After a delicious lunch, I had to go back and get changed into my battle clothes. Today was our first day using armour and I was really excited about it.

I put on my baggy white shirt and put a tan leather tunic over it. My bracers, shield, sword, daggers and leggings were in place before I headed out to the grassy hill. I passed by a couple of Narnians, curtsying, waving or greeting them as I walked. Orieus was waiting for everybody to come and he looked in surprise at me: I was early for once. I rolled my eyes,

"Take a picture, it'll last longer!"

"A painting would take an awful long time to complete for this moment, would it not?" the centaur looked at me, confusedly.

"It's nothing, Oreo." I smirked at the nickname I had given him.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that?"

"As many times as I have?" I folded my arms.

He glared at me, "Just get ready soldier."

I had to hide my grin. Orieus was so easy to annoy, but he was the best swordsman in the Camp, so I had to respect him. Well, I **tried** to.

Before I knew it, everybody arrived and started fighting.

"Slash, spin, block, kick, dodge." I mumbled to myself as I sparred with the tan centaur. I knew that we were around the same skill level but I pushed myself to get better and better so that I could fight. Peter still had his doubts about me fighting in the battle when it came so I was making myself learn techniques faster.

Kalkol blocked and raised his sword above his head. He brought it down but I was prepared for the blow. I put my blade above my head and turned it horizontally, so that his blade hit mine. The clang of metal that the two swords produced was piercing but we fought on. In the end, I used the same method to disarm Kalkol as I had with Zackie. I brought it down, there was a glint of sliver and his sword lay on the ground.

Oreo nodded at me and I smiled, going over to him and waiting for my next opponent. He showed me a brown satyr (who I didn't now the name of) and I unsheathed my sword. The satyr was slightly better than me and I could tell, but before he could disarm me Oreo made us come around him. He taught us more new moves and quicker ways to defend ourselves before we went back to sparring.

Training ended for the day and I went back to my tent to get changed into the green dress that I always wore for archery practise. All training had been cut back for a while, mainly because everybody wanted to practice and there wasn't enough places for them to train.

I pulled back the bow string and fired at the target, hitting the edge of the bulls-eye. Then I decided to throw an arrow at it, hitting slightly outside of the bulls-eye. Susan was doing the same things as me, and both of her shots hit the centre. She didn't have much competition in our group and was top of the class. I felt slightly envious, but I was proud for my friend.

She told me that back in England she would never do 'this sort of thing' because she was more gifted in the academic area than she was in the sporting one. Lu and I had been talking about the changes about Su's personality since I had first met her, and she was definitely more carefree, less serious and more fun to be around.

Su wasn't the most popular girl at her school, in fact she didn't have many friends. Neither did I though. Su had changed for the better, and I preferred her when she wasn't in full 'Mum' mode. Lu also told me that Su would never have gotten into something like a water fight in England: she would always be the voice of reason and the reasonable sibling. I was glad to see my 'sister' enjoying herself, and I was sure that Lucy did as well.

Archery practise came to a close and I went to the Dryads for my dagger lesson with Lu. I was learning how to hit moving targets and it was a lot harder than anything else I had done with my 'golden wonders'.

After that I went to the stables for my horse-back riding lesson. Once again, it was with Oreo and he was teaching us how to use our swords on our horses.

"He definitely has experience." I inwardly laughed.

When that had finished I had a shower and had dinner with the Pevensies. I was talking more to the girls than the boys today, but I didn't mind.

"Su, Luc, I'm going down to the beach to talk to Juel and Seb. Wanna come?" I asked them over my dinner.

They politely declined because they were tired from what had happened today and last night. Once again, I slipped on my usual shirt and leggings and mounted Tia. I wanted to take Tia instead of Ronny because I needed the practise and Ronny had hurt his wing 'showing off'. I went up to my usual rock and I left Tia in a field close to the beach. I was slightly perplexed as Seb was the only one there. Most of the time it would be Juel, or sometimes both of them, but never Seb on her own.

She waved over to me as she hoisted herself up onto the rock as I came towards her.

"Hiya Seb! Where's Juel?" I inquired, eager to know where my friend was.

"She's with her boyfriend." She mumbled, unenthusiastically.

"Oh ho ho! Little Juel had a bf? Do tell."

She sighed, "I'd rather not talk about him."

"Oh, do you not like him?"

"No. To be honest, I never did."

"What did he do?"

"He just isn't the right person for her! He's shady, and he's away a lot **and** he always has to have his sword by his side. It's like his baby!"

"So where is the lucky merman?"

Seb made a facial expression that clearly said hatred, "He's not a merman, far from it in fact. He's a-"

She was about to speak before a laugh interrupted her. I recognised that laugh, it was Jue-lanai!

"Quickly, get in the water!" Seb hissed at me, before grabbing my arm and sliding back into the ocean.

I jumped into the sea as well and I held onto her as she started swimming away from the rock formation. When my oxygen supply was getting low, Seb swam to the surface and helped me keep my head above the water as we bobbed up and down in the water.

We weren't too far out from the seashore (about one hundred yards) and we could hear Jue-lanai talking. I wiped my eyes to get rid of the seawater near them. When I opened them, I saw my friend slowly moving across the shoreline talking to a grey Minotaur. I almost cooed as I saw the Minotaur take Juel's hand, but weren't Minotaurs on the Witch's side? Why was he so close to the Camp? And why on earth was he her boyfriend? I started to eavesdrop on their conversation. Literally. I cast a spell on Seb's ears so that she could hear what they were saying better. She looked at me and grinned before I did the same thing on my own.

Although we could hear their conversation from where we were standing, I mean _floating_, I preferred to listen to everything that was going on. And I meant everything. I started to pay attention to their conversation.

Jue-lanai giggled, "I can't believe how stupid humans are!"

The minotaur made a grunting noise that sounded like he was laughing, "Well Juel, they don't come much dumber than your friend!"

"Hold on a sec. Jue-lanai's human friend? I thought that I was the only human being that she knew!" I questioned myself, "Oh he means me," when it finally clicked, "Hey! That's insulting!" I mentally yelled at him.

"You're right Abaxrel." Juel replied. I froze. Where had I heard that name before? Why did it make shivers run down my spine and make the hairs on my body stand on end? I really didn't like the sound of his name… but why did it make me feel so uncomfortable? I continued to look at the two making their way down the beach.

"So when do you think that your army will be able to defeat the puny Narnians?" Juel said,

"The Witch says that if you take this dagger," he pulled out a grey-silver knife, "then we will be able to start the first attacks. Just don't cut yourself with it, because it has a deadly poison imbued within its stone."

Juel twisted the blade around in her hands, inspecting it, "Is this Zunarii stone?"

The great beast nodded its head.

Juel gasped and dropped the dagger onto the sand, "It is against the Narnian laws to have such a foul and repulsive material in this land. How did you obtain it?"

Abaxrel 'laughed' again, "Jue-lanai, my own brother has a sword made out of Zunarii. How could I not receive it?"

"You have a brother?" Juel inquired,

"Yes and he is much more formidable than I am. He is one of the most feared warriors that the Witch has in her army and he is superior to myself and Otmin. He is Jadis' most trusted advisor and army commander and he is so powerful that even the Witch had problems with him. If you can poison the Guardian the other humans shall swiftly follow in her footsteps. Take the dagger and kill the girl if you truly are on our side."

Juel looked out onto the ocean and saw Seb and I. Before I knew it, she had picked up the dagger without the slightest hesitation and swam swiftly towards us and before Seb could do anything to help me, or to take us away from where we were floating. I feebly tried to swim away but she was much faster than I was. Her head broke the surface of the water and she raised the dagger above her head.

"I'm sorry," Juel said as she brought the dagger down towards my heart.

**A/N Reviews are like hugs…**

**Xx Elemental Angel xX**


	17. Chapter 16 Today was uneventful NOT

**A/N I'm verrrrry sorry for not updating last weekend guys! I feel so bad… but I hope that this will make up for it. So please enjoy, and on with the show!**

I brought my hands out of the water to defend myself and braced myself for the blow. I closed my eyes tightly and I should have felt the dagger piercing my skin. Instead, I saw Seb and her fighting each other, either pulling their hair or scratching each other with their nails.

"Hurry up Rachel! Do something to her! Bre- break the curse!" Seb struggled to say as she fought against her friend.

I looked around frantically and racked my brain for some sort of enchantment that could help break the 'curse' over my friend. I don't have time to ask how Juel was cursed, but the urgency of the situation made my mind go into overdrive.

Suddenly, I was taken through a long white tunnel in my mind and a flashback appeared. It was my grandmother and I, and it looked like it was from years ago. I could tell because my hair was in pigtails, (some of it couldn't be tamed and it was sticking out and looking like a small afro) I was wearing bright yellow dungarees and a crazy striped rainbow t-shirt.

"_Now my young granddaughter," Granny started, her worn and friendly voice giving me shivers, "do you know about curses?"_

"_No Granny, you told me that they were dangerous and bad," my young voice replied, making 'dangerous' sound like 'dangeroos'. _

_Her wrinkled face smiled at me, "I have taught you well my child. But there are some dark forces at work out there and they will use curses. Do you know how to?" _

_I shook my little black head, my messy hair and pigtails flying in all directions, "Of course I don't Granny!"_

_She chuckled, "It's a good thing you don't! Our jobs as light enchantresses is to break curses instead of using them. We have to combat dark magic, as it is our duty. T_

_Now, the way to break a curse is to convey feelings to the victim, through your hands and thoughts. You must place your hands on the victims head and think of good memories. They don't even have to be memories of them to make it work!" Granny explained as she placed her hands on my head making me giggle._

"_Grandma, that tickles!" I turned to her and said in my high pitched voice._

"_Dear child, you will know when to use this technique when you are older and when you understand more. I fear that it might involve someone close to you, someone whom you have trusted," she finished, patting my head and making the curls go 'boing' like a spring. She stroked my head and we both laughed before the flashback ended._

I quickly came out of my vision and I swam quickly towards the wrestling mermaids. Juel still had the poisonous dagger and was attempting to stab Seb with it. I ignored the stinging pain that my eyes gave me as seawater went into them as a slammed my hands on Juel's head and started focusing, screwing my eyes us in concentration.

My mind automatically went to the part of my brain that held all of the good times that I had experienced. Most of them were of Narnia, but a few were of my life in the Twenty-first century. It was hard to keep my mind focused because I was bobbing up and down in the ocean and there were two screaming mermaids beside me. Seb was crying out for her friend, but Juel's was a pained yell, one that made my heart want to break. But I had to keep my hands on her skull and shatter the dark hold over her, for myself, herself and Seb. My hands felt very warm and I opened my eyes to look at them.

My palms were glowing a familiar white and they contained the magic that was starting to slowly break the enchantment that she was under. Juel's screams got fainter and fainter as she began to come back to her senses. My friend gradually opened and closed her eyes before she looked at Seb and me. Initially she looked confused and bewildered, and then pulled us both into a bone-crushing hug. The cries of anger and defeat sounded from the shore and we looked to where they were coming from.

Abaxrel was taking a tantrum on the beach and he looked like a five year old. I laughed at him and looked at my two friends, who had expressions on their faces that could cause lightening to strike down from the sky. Juel pulled out the mysterious dagger that was meant to kill me and we gave each other silent looks of understanding. I grabbed onto Seb's tail who grabbed onto Juel's and we sped through the water to where I could stand. Mumbling a strengthening spell on myself, I threw Seb and Juel through the air like I was practicing for the hammer throw in the Olympics.

Seb pushed Juel as hard as she could towards the minotaur and then she fell onto the sand before Juel flung the hand that had the dagger in it towards Abaxrel, who was running away from the airborne mermaid. The sound of the dagger going into his flesh and the scream of hurting that went through the air to my ears was thunderous and the great beast collapsed onto the ground with the poisonous dagger protruding from his chest. Blood formed on his lips as I came out of the water and towards my mermaid friends. We looked at one another before I went over to the minotaur to retrieve the deadly knife. As I was pulling the dagger out, Abaxrel made a sudden movement with his head and bit the centre of my chest, just below my ribcage.

It was so surprising that I yelped, not in pain but in fright. I inspected the bite mark, and fortunately it wasn't deep enough to be worried about, but the amount of force that the minotaur had put in his jaw to bite me was powerful enough to leave a scar. The life-drained beast whispered menacingly at me;

"I have left my mark on you, and I will be in your nightmares, human. This final movement I have made before dying will imprint on you forever, as it is my last wish. But don't worry, I won't be your biggest fear: my brother will take care of that. Goodbye, dear, beloved Guardian," he spat at me, spraying blood on my clothes and face. I flinched from the ferocity of the way he said my title. And with that, he laughed coldly, coughed on his own blood and died, his great head lolling around on the sand for a minute before stopping.

I slowly stood up with the Zunarii dagger in my hand. I looked around myself for a moment, letting the reality sink in. But then Seb started to groan and clutch at her arm before looking up at me, fear etching her features. I gasped as I saw blood trickle down her arm from a gash on her bicep. There is only one thing that could have done that: the Zunarii dagger. Another moan came from Juel and she hugged her shoulder. This wasn't good.

I froze as I heard the pained groans coming from the mouths of my friends. I seemed to be in some sort of trance before the cawing of a huge bird interrupted my thoughts. I looked up to see the great and powerful wings of my beloved friend Ronny spreading out above me.

"Rachel! What's wrong?" Iron Feather asked me hurriedly,

"Ronny, am I glad to see you! I need you to go back to Camp, to get Lucy and towels. Tell her to bring her cordial. Quickly!" I yelled at him before slapping his side. He flew off; his beating wings a melody to my ears.

Fortunately, I had brought my quiver with me, so I dumped the arrows on the ground and dunked it in the sea. I thought that maybe the water would help them, seeing that they were part-fish. The second I filled it up, I ran and poured it over Seb. I repeated this over and over again, one quiver-full of water to Juel, the next to Seb, until I heard familiar wings beating. Iron Feather landed on the sand and a thud followed. Lucy had jumped off Ronny and was running towards Seb, whose breathing had become laboured and her skin had gone a deathly white.

Juel wasn't much better, in fact they were just about as bad as each other. They had cold sweat on their foreheads and their tails -oh their glorious tails that were their pride and joy- were losing their usual shimmer. The scales on them were growing dimmer as their owners lost their strength. Lucy grasped at the small bottle at her waist and unscrewed the gold lion head stopper, kneeling down beside my friend. I took a towel from Ronny's claws and put it over Seb's body, attempting to keep her warm. I went over and did the same to Juel. As Lucy angled the bottle so that only one drop would fall through her lips, I could literally taste the indescribable sweetness of the elixir on my own tongue.

Once the red liquid had passed through Seb's lips, I urged Lucy to go and give a drop to Juel. She protested, but by the look on my face, she knew that Juel needed her more than Seb. I fell on my knees and I felt something sliding down my face. I tenderly touched my cheek and saw that there was moisture on it. Seb had stopped breathing, and so had Juel.

I went over to Lucy and we stared at the two mermaids who were lying motionless on the ground. Three deaths had happened to day: one was a half-crazed minotaur and the other two were mermaids. One of the mermaids saved my life, the other tried to kill me. We looked at each other and cried uncontrollably, her face buried in my side as I put my arm around her. I looked at Iron Feather and even he had glassy eyes.

"Come. We must go back and deliver this news to Aslan." Ronny said firmly, leaning down so we could ride on top of him. We took off towards the camp, my mind focusing on only one thing: my mermaid friends.

But somewhere in the depths of my brain, something was whirring and making me confused. That thing was the conversation I had heard between the Witch and Otmin that night at the castle. I could feel my eyebrows knit together in confusion. It was like my mind was a jigsaw puzzle and there was one final piece to be placed in it, but what was it? I could almost feel the tiny slip of knowledge that I needed to fully recollect what was said in that conversation in my brain, and it seemed very important.

Meanwhile, we had landed outside Aslan's tent. I pushed the fabric away from myself as I entered his tent and he automatically looked at me, stopping his conversation with Orieus.

"Dear child, what is troubling you?" Aslan asked me, his voice calming me,

"Oh Aslan, Aslan," I choked out, tears still coming down my cheeks, "it's my friends Seb and Juel. It started off with Seb pulling me into the sea and Juel walking along with this huge minotaur and…"

I told Aslan everything that had happened in the short space of two minutes. When I had finished I was out of breath and Orieus was standing wide-eyed, staring at me.

"Oh, and there's this as well," I said, pulling out the Zunarii dagger. Orieus gasped,

"Aslan that weapon should not be amongst us!" Oreo claimed,

"Peace Orieus, I'm sure there is an explanation," the Golden Lion commanded,

"This was the dagger that Juel was given by Abaxrel to stab me. I don't know why I brought it back, but maybe it can tell us something about what the Witch is planning."

Aslan whispered something to Orieus and looked towards me,

"It seems that your friends are in need of help, dear one." He lowered himself beside me and gestured for me to get on.

A smile graced my features as I clung onto the silky golden mane that belonged to the great lion. We set off towards the beach and before I knew it, we had arrived. I jumped off Aslan's back and towards Juel.

"I just wanted to say that, I forgive you Juel."

Aslan roared and I jumped in surprise. There was a weird tinkling sound and I looked at Seb and Juel. The bottom of their tails were sparkling and I lifted the towel slightly to see the rest of their tails shimmering with all sorts of colours. I looked towards Aslan who just stood still, looking at me. The tinkling noise stopped and I was surprised to see that their tails had gone. Once again, I lifted a towel slightly and I jumped.

There was no longer a tail that started at Juel's and Seb's waists: but… legs? I poked one of them to check that they were real. Both of the mermaids- sorry- humans moaned as they realized that they were alive again. The sounds they made were those that sounded like they were waking up from a long sleep. I saw Juel open her sky blue eyes and I saw Seb open her indigo ones. Happy tears formed in my eyes as they sat up. They registered their surrounding and looked at me, before I wrapped my arms around them.

"It looks like your friends will need some new clothes," Aslan said wisely.

"Do you mean to say that my friends are humans?" I asked him,

"Well, as close as they could get to being human. You see, I couldn't resurrect them as mermaids, so for the price of their tails, I made them the second best thing."

"Mermaids have special properties, one of them being that if they are willing enough to sacrifice their tails, they can come back to life at the sound of Aslan's roar. Or so the legend has it. I don't think that this type of thing has ever been recorded in the scriptures," Seb added.

"We can also grant wishes to anyone who saves us," Juel commented, "Whoa! These things are cool!" she said as she stood up. She tried to take one step before swiftly landing on the ground with a thud.

"These things aren't as easy to manage as they look you know!" Juel said, after emptying her mouth of sand. "Plech!" she coughed as some sand went down her throat.

I laughed at my friends antics before realizing that they weren't clothed.

"Aslan, can you take me back to the camp please?"

The lion chuckled as he knew what I was referring to, "Yes you may. And when you give these girls their clothes, Orieus would like to see you."

"How did you know th- Oh, right." I laughed slightly. I had forgotten that Aslan could read people's thoughts.

He galloped back to camp and before I knew it, I was on Ronny's back, flying to the beach for the third time that day. It was almost sunset, and I wanted to get Seb and Juel back to Camp before today ended. I gave Juel a soft pink off the shoulder dress and then I gave the other one to Seb. It was a dark purple colour and it had a box neckline. Both of them covered their ankles and feet.

They could hardly stand up, and my chest was sore from laughing at their failed attempts at trying to walk. But like a baby, I knew that they would master the art of walking, even though they fell every time they stood up. Once I had helped them over to Ronny (I say helped when I really meant dragged) we took off again towards camp. I don't think that I'll be getting lost going from the beach to Camp ever again, that's for sure!

Some of the Narnians had been kind enough to prepare a tent for Seb and Juel while I was away getting them from the beach. I was just about to get ready for bed before I remembered that I had to go and see Orieus. Apparently he didn't like the Zunarii dagger being anywhere near him and wanted to dispose of it as quickly as possible. Or at least, that's what a young faun told me.

I reluctantly walked to Aslan's tent. I knew Orieus would be there, because he usually stayed with the Great Lion late into the night discussing war tactics etcetera. I pulled the heavy piece of fabric away and went into the tent. Oreo looked at me and sighed. He held the dagger with his thumb and index finger and the way he held it looked as if he was holding a poisonous spider or something along those lines.

Aslan turned and spoke to me, "Rachel, I hope you appreciate how lucky you were today. The Zunarii stone would have been enough to kill you, but there is a weapon greater still," he looked at Orieus and nodded. The centaur tentatively put his left hand on the blade and used his right hand to unscrew the pommel. This was probably the strangest things I've ever seen, but then Orieus took the pommel off the dagger to reveal a glass tube-shaped container. Inside the glass tube was the most beautiful liquid I have ever seen.

It was a light blue and freckled with white spots. When I moved it shimmered and glittered: it looked like liquid diamond. I was entranced by it and I touched the glass, before it turned an angry shade of red with ugly green spots. I was shocked at the sight and I jumped back, yelping in surprise.

"This is Mortuis veritatem, more commonly know as the substance that runs through the White Witch's veins," Aslan clarified.

"So this is the-"

"Witch's blood," Orieus finished, "and I would prefer it if we got rid of it right now," he snapped, glaring at the horrible substance. It was almost like he was shooting imaginary lasers from his eyes. But not just tiny red ones; huge elephant-sized scarlet ones.

"Don't worry Orieus, I only need to speak with Rachel for a moment," Aslan's honey coloured eyes met my greeny-blue ones, "this substance ran through the Witch herself. Jadis is a woman who has nothing but anger, jealousy and hatred running through her body, and only creatures who are pure evil have this as their blood. One drop of this substance, one tiny drop, is enough to kill any living creature. Including me."

I gasped. Through his power, authority and wisdom, I thought that Aslan was invincible, and no-one could touch him. Now I feel like I've been lulled into a false sense of security. There was still that awful nagging in the back of my head, telling me that I have to remember something very, very important.

"Dear one, you seem deeply confused. Is something wrong?"

"Um… yes. I feel like I should remember something, but I can't."

"Would you like me to help you remember?"

I nodded my head.

Aslan stepped forward and licked my forehead. If it had been anybody else I would have rubbed my forehead numb and disinfected it. But this was _the_ mighty lion. Nothing happened for a moment, but then the part of my forehead that he had licked started tingling with magic. Ever since I had arrived in Narnia, I could feel my own magic being boosted. The air practically hummed with it, and I felt like I was connected to something much bigger, something… more powerful than Aslan himself.

When the tingling sensation became almost unbearable, a flashback started. It was the night that I was taken to the Witch's castle, and I was in her throne room.

_...girl you're holding will be tortured, I'll turn her into one of my works of art and hold her for ransom. The Great Lion will have to agree with my conditions, otherwise he'll lose two of his beloved humans. Then, I will get rid of Aslan and his army will be distraught! Narnia will be mine once again!"_

The image faded and I was brought back to reality. The Witch was planning to kill Aslan!

**A/N I'm so evil! Reviews are like hugs… you can't get enough of them! And you might want to read the next authors note and all I can say is… PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!**

**Xx Elemental Angel xX**


	18. Chapter 17 That's one big secret!

**A/N Well guys, look who's back! I know it's been a long time (too long in fact) and I just wanted to give you guys another chapter because I feel mean for not updating **** hopefully this will make up for it!**

**Chapter Seventeen ~ That's one big secret!**

I stared off into space, not regarding Orieus or Aslan. The Witch couldn't kill the Great Lion, he was our leader! He was the one who brought us together, he is the reason that we're going to fight!

I barely noticed that Aslan had asked Oreo to leave and stand outside. He turned and faced me.

"Rachel, tell me what you saw," he asked, calmly.

'And I thought you were the one who could read minds,' I huffed to myself.

"Well I can, but I would prefer it if you told me," Aslan told me. It took all of my will power not to scowl.

"Aslan, the Witch is planning to murder you," I answered, watching his great golden face fall with sadness.

"What you say, is true, Guardian," Aslan replied, sadly.

"But how can she? Did I miss something when I was away?"

"Jadis was planning on sacrificing Edmund for what he had done. She came here when you were frozen, and we came to an agreement."

"Just what did you agree on, Aslan?"

"The only way I could get her not to kill the Son of Adam was to give her," he sighed deeply, "was to give her my own life." His golden eyes were sad and depressed, and they held so much pain in them. He knew he was going to die, and he was going to do it willingly.

"Tell me you're joking?"

He shook his head.

"Tell me that you are joking?" I said again in utter disbelief.

Once again, he shook his head.

"No Aslan, you can't leave us! You're our leader, our commander, our hope! You can't leave us alone, you just can't! I'll take your place and I'll do it with no regrets. Tell her to take mine instead, please," I said hysterically, before sinking to my knees and burying my face in his warm mane.

"Please don't go. The Narnians need you and so do the Pevensies. _I_ need you." I mumbled. I pulled away and I could have sworn I had seen a tear rolling down his face.

"It must be this way, dear one. The deal has been done, and a lion does not go back on his word. For that, I am sorry."

I sniffed and rubbed away my tears. I had been getting familiar with the water my eyes made, especially today.

"Well then we will fight for you. We will fight for our freedom and for your sacrifice. We will fight until we can fight no longer. We will die with honour." I proclaimed, bravery ringing through my voice.

"Do not tell the others, Rachel, for the will try and stop me from going. I just want to tell you something more. You were born with magical abilities, and they are limited, yes?"

I nodded.

"Then place your necklace and bracelet charms on my paw."

I unclipped the charm from the bracelet and I took my necklace off. My neck felt naked and unprotected without it on.

He gently blew on the two charms and they started glowing slightly. They seemed to morph together, forming one object. When the glowing stopped, one necklace was in his paw. It was an octagonal shape, made of a silver metal with (what looked like) a mother of pearl plate of the front with an ornate drawing of Aslan's face on it. The face protruded slightly from the necklace slightly, giving it a three-dimensional effect.

I turned it on its side and there was a slight gap in the middle of it, so I slid my thumbnail into it and it sprung open. There was a very small vial of a clear liquid of one side; barely a few drop of the potion in it. On the other side was an engraving and it said:

_Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight, _

_At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,_

_When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,_

_And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again._

They were the exact carvings that Peter and I had on our swords. On the back of my necklace was one word and it was-

"Nitidae," I breathed, taking in the beauty of my new necklace. Aslan gestured for me to take it. I put it around my neck and as soon as the metal touched my skin, my magic felt more powerful than it had ever been. It was on a fine silver chain and it wasn't as heavy as it looked.

"You aren't as good with a sword as Peter and Edmund are, and you never will be. You aren't as good with a bow as Susan is. And one day, Lucy will become more skilled with her dagger then you are. She will also become the closest to Narnia's Deep Magic," he told me.

'Gee Aslan, this is really making me feel special,' I thought to myself sarcastically.

"But you will be able to defeat your enemies through your fighting skills, stealth and magic. Almost every man who is skilled with a weapon will have difficulty defeating you," Aslan finished.

I looked down at the mother of pearl plate, "Please don't go," I pleaded again.

"I am sorry, but I have to go in Edmund's place," he clarified again.

I hugged him once more before getting up to go.

"And Rachel?" Aslan asked me, "don't tell the others."

"Only if you tell me what this liquid is!" I exclaimed, opening my necklace and pointing towards the clear substance.

"That is the potion known as 'Sleep of the Living Dead.' You will find a use for it in the future, I'm positive. And one last thing: look out for a vase" he finished.

I nodded and went out of his tent. How was I going to keep this a secret from the others? I was also very confused about what he had said about a vase. What was that to do with anything? Hmmm… it was probably something to do with me breaking a vase. Despite my gymnastic and martial art skills, I could be a bubble-brained klutz sometimes.

"Soldier?" I heard a voice say. I turned around to see Orieus standing behind me.

"Yes Oreo?" I said, using his nickname.

He sighed in annoyance, "How many times have I told you not to call me that?"

I opened my mouth to say 'as many times as I've done it?' but he cut me off.

"I know what you're going to say and I'm telling you not to. You really have to think of a new come back," he smirked. He was still holding the dagger.

"Are you going to keep that dagger as a souvenir, or are you going to get rid of it?"

He scowled at me before raising his arm to throw it into the forest.

"Wait!" I shouted, making his arm drop, "can I do it?"

He put the dagger in my right hand.

"I'm practising with the Dryads, remember? I'm not only taught by you, you know," I told him, as I brought my hand to my left side, before moving it across my body in a quick movement. I let it go and after a few seconds, I heard it hit a tree. But even though it was night time and the only sources of light we had were the moon and the fire from the torches, I could see the metal handle of the stone dagger glinting in the moonlight evilly.

"See you bright and early tomorrow morning soldier," Orieus said over his shoulder, walking away.

"Bye," I said quietly, remembering the events of today. They went around and around in my head like a washing machine, and my head spun slightly from all of it. I quickly went to bed and put it all in order. One of the Witch's minotaurs' had put my friend under a spell and had attempted to kill me, he had died and so had Juel and Seb. They had been brought back to life as humans, and I found out that Aslan was going to give his life to save Edmund's. My magic had been made stronger through Aslan's power and I no longer had a necklace or charm to match my mark.

I changed into a white shirt and some thigh length leggings. I climbed into my bed and fell into a restless sleep, filled with awful dreams. I woke up several times in a row from the nightmare that kept repeating itself, and in the end, I had to go back to Aslan. Fortunately, he was still awake.

"Aslan, I'm really sorry, but I've been having bad dreams tonight. Is there anything you can do to help me?"

The Great Lion inspected me, and he walked around in a circle. When he had finished, he sat down, "What exactly did that minotaur do to you today?"

"Well… apart from casting a spell on Juel and sending her to kill me, nothing really."

Then I remembered what Abaxrel did to me before he 'kicked the bucket.'

"He bit me as he was dying," I told him.

Aslan made a noise that could have been registered as a groan, "Miss Elfin, he bit you with his last breath. That is the longest lasting mark that any animal can leave on you. Is there a scar?"

I nodded and pulled my shirt to show him the imprint.

"There isn't much I can do, and you will still experience some nightmares. Here is what I can do for you," he said, putting one of his claws towards my chest. The area that had been affected by his teeth felt warm for a minute before he took his claw away from my chest.

"I hope it helps," he finished before I turned around and thanked him, yawning as I said it. I went out of the tent and went back to bed. 'Aslan you are truly amazing!' I thought to myself before I went to sleep again. The nightmare wasn't as bad as before and I only woke up once, and after I woke up that last time, I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

I woke up to the sound of birds singing. It was a melodic sound and if I had listened to them at any other time of the day, I would have complimented their lovely voices. But it was early and I had just woken up.

"Go away birds," I mumbled, pulling the covers up over my head. I was not a morning person, never have been, never will be. I didn't hear somebody enter my tent. "PARP!" the horn sounded. I screamed and fell out of bed, stunned by the bellowing noise that filled my tent. I looked up and saw Peter, Edmund and Orieus, all killing themselves laughing. I wasn't in the mood for joking around this early in the morning, especially this morning because of what I had learned last night and the awful nightmare I had dreamt of.

"M-mo-morning s-s-soldier!" Orieus said, in between laughs.

"It's a beautiful morning, don't you think? A beautiful morning for being **punched**!" I threatened, putting my fist up to my face.

They all put their hands out in front of them in mock fright, before I saw the horn Orieus was carrying. I smirked as I thought of a spell that would frighten Orieus.

"Tell me, Oreo, what are you afraid of?" I asked him sweetly, putting my left hand behind my back as I felt the magical ball of light and fire form in my hand. It formed a lot easier and quicker then it would have before last night, probably because of my new necklace.

"Me? Afraid of something? Pahahaha!" he laughed.

"Really? What about this!" I exclaimed, throwing my hand out towards his feet. He yelped in fright and reared up, dropping the horn . I quickly made a grab for it and when I felt it in my palm, I brought it up to my face and blew into it numerous times, and they laughed as they ran out of my tent.

"Stupid boys," I mumbled angrily to myself, "if only they knew," I sighed, 'oh well, back to bed for me,' I said to myself, whilst yawning in the process. I pulled the now cold covers around me again. I was about to go back to sleep before my stomach vibrated. 'Well, sleep can wait, I'm hungry!' I thought throwing the covers away and stretching. I looked down at my dress.

'Maybe I should get changed…' I said inwardly. I had a shower, ran a brush through my hair and tied it up in a high ponytail. I had decided that the best way to not tell the Pevensies about Aslan, was to try and not talk to them too much. That was easier said than done. I pulled on my black training outfit and put my sword at my side. I felt safer when I had a weapon with me sometimes, and I was starting to find that if my sword was with me, I would keep my hand on the hilt of it, just in case. Oreo had told me that it was a habit that almost every swordsman (I nearly slapped him when he said 'swordsman') obtained.

I went to the 'Tent of Nomming.' Oh my word, the Narnians had _the_ best cooks in the world! Every single meal was like an explosion of flavour; even the bread was great! In fact, it had a sort of sweet taste to it, like it had been infused with honey. Some of the men in the camp were surprised about the amount I ate, but after a day of horse-riding, sword, archery and dagger training, I thought that my stomach was going to eat itself.

"Morning Tirma," I said to a brown female centaur as my mouth stretched out into another yawn.

"What's got you up so early?"

"Let's just say, would love to put some poison into Orieus' food," I said sarcastically.

Tirma knew of my frosty relationship with Orieus, so she laughed.

"My, my, Dame Rachel, you certainly do have the most wonderful friendship!"

I scowled at her playfully and she smiled at my expression.

Tirma gave me a bowl of what could only be described as porridge and then I moved on to get a piece of bread. Or two. I sat down at a table and started eating by myself. Sometimes I preferred it with friends, others I wanted to be myself and think through a lot of things. It was just one of those days. It was the same back in London, only I would have gone up to the library at break and lunch instead of going into the corner of a dining tent watching fauns and satyrs eat.

I quickly finished my breakfast and I gave my bowl back to the kitchen staff. I heard Eddie's and Pete's voices close to the opening of the dining tent and I ducked into the kitchen, narrowly avoiding getting food poured over my head. I ended up near the saucepans and I pressed my body close to the wall. Little did I know that in the process of putting my body to the wall, I made it shake. I only realized when a saucepan dropped and hit me on the head, making a very loud sound.

"Shhh!" I said to the saucepan, after exclaiming 'Ow!'

"I'm okay!" I announced to everybody, knowing that it had all gone quiet and all eyes were on the kitchen, 'I'm so stupid!' I thought, clenching my fists. My left hand caressed my sore head as I made a hasty exit out of the back flap (where the cooks come in from) and I headed back to my own tent.

In three days Lu, Su and I were going to have another sleepover. At the moment, I wasn't entirely sure if I should go or make up some ridiculous story that would get me out of it. 'Life's just fantastic at the minute for you, isn't it?' the voice in the back of my head said, 'Just peachy," I replied, sarcastically. I was finding a new love for sarcasm, and I just loved seeing people' reactions when I used it.

I buckled by daggers around my waist, slung my quiver over my back and headed out for some extra training. Aslan had been talking to Lucy a lot (in fact, more than any of us) and when he was talking to her, he told Lu that he would love to see me fighting with my sword and my fighting skills. It seemed like a good idea and the combination fitted me perfectly.

I found myself in a small arena. It was very basic, nothing more than a circle of rope and grass. I unsheathed my sword and pretended to fight an invisible enemy. I swung my sword to the left and I punched the air with my left hand, hitting the invisible man's 'nose.' I completed a roundhouse kick and my sword moved simultaneously with my foot. I jumped and brought my body in a horizontal position, spinning as I did so. I stuck my sword out, causing many injuries to the enemy as I spun. I landed on my two feet and I recollected my thoughts to the spell that made me jump higher.

When my feet left the ground, I started doing forward rolls in the air and just before I hit the ground, I put my flung my sword arm out, and using the spinning motion from the forward rolls, I cut my enemy in half. I kept combining magic, gymnastics, martial art and sword skills until it felt like a dance: a deadly waltz. I was so focused on my dance that I didn't know that someone was watching me. I continued until a familiar silver and gold blade hit my own.

I looked up and my eyes looked into the blue ones that belonged to Peter. I took my sword off his and put it in its white scabbard, the metal scraping along it and making a 'zhing' sort of sound.

"That was rather impressive," Peter commented, "I'm startled at your skills milady," hr mocked.

"Let's just say you were glad not to be my opponent," I replied, "they'd have to scrape you off the ground when I was done with you."

He laughed at this. I smiled at him, happy that the stress he was under didn't affect his smile. He and Edmund were calming down the romance at the minute, meaning I didn't feel guilty about spending time with just one of them instead of both of them at the same time. Sometimes I wish they had never liked me. Ugh, romance complicates friendships.

"So what would you say if I challenged you to a fight?"

My head snapped up and I grinned. I had never fought Peter one-on-one, and I jumped at the chance, "Why, it would be my honour, Sir Peter Wolfsbane," I told him, my voice going up an octave in mock excitement. I thought I would add in a curtsy as well, but since I had no dress to grab onto and spread out, I pretended that I had one on, over emphasising the curtsy. I lost my balance because I went down too low, making me fall flat on my backside.

Peter laughed again, and I laughed at myself, "I'm such a klutz!" I told him, giggling.

"You thought I didn't know?" he added, smirking. I grabbed his foot and lifted it above my head, before I pushed him over with my other hand. We were lying on the ground in fits.

"So are we going to fight or are we just going to be laughing heaps on the ground?" I asked.

"Can't we do both?"

"I'm afraid not Sir Pete, even you can't do them both at once."

"Alright," he said, standing up and unsheathing his sword.

I pulled mine out of its white scabbard and took my fighting stance. We both bowed to each other and that was when we started. He ran towards me and swung at my head. I had to think fast to avoid him hitting me. I jumped to the left and got behind Pete, raising my sword above my head. I was about to hit his back when he whirled around, putting his sword horizontally to block mine.

He pushed his sword against mine, and because I relied on stealth and speed more than strength and brutality, I couldn't keep my sword on his. Pete was a much better swordsman than I was, but like my Sensei always said, 'even the best fighters have their own weaknesses.'

I lunged at him, but he dodged and swooped his sword down to my foot. The tip of it caught on one of the laces and when Pete went to pull his sword away from my foot, I came with it. I was flipped upside down and I landed on my back. Pete was about to put his blade to my neck, before I rolled away. His sword flew out as I rolled, and I stuck my arm out, making the sword hit my bracer. I used my left elbow to capture his blade, and his sword was stuck in between my bicep and the lower part of my arm. I used the pommel of my sword to hit the silver blade of his, and the shock from the hit went up his arm.

He cried out, making me feel sorry for him, "Pete, are you okay?" I shouted over to him. This was a bad mistake. I was distracted, and he used this to his advantage. He quickly put his blade to mine, made a circle and he twisted his sword, somehow managing to twist my own. I screamed, but not very loudly. I dropped my sword and I felt the cold metal of his blade against my neck. 'Dead,' he announced, his face threatening to break out in a huge smile of pride.

"Hmmm… I don't think so, this girl still has some fight left in her," I grinned, devilishly. I kicked his shin with my foot and stood up. Pete was hopping around, holding his leg. I got down really low, stuck my right leg out and spun around. This blow to his leg made him fall over, so I picked up my sword and pointed it at his throat.

"Dead," I said.

"Phew! Good match Rach!" he said smiling, holding his hand out for a handshake. I put my hand out and just before his touched mine, I pulled away and put my thumb on my nose, waggling my fingers and looking extremely childish.

Pete bumped my slightly and I bumped him back, until we were shoving each other, laughing the whole time. I pushed him away and ran, shouting over my shoulder, "I gotta go see Oreo! I'll catch you later!" I waved at him, and he waved back.

I ran towards the stables because Oreo wanted to give me extra sword fighting on horseback lessons. It wasn't because I was bad at it, he just thought that it would help me improve. Even though I had just spent time with Pete, I really didn't want to spend any more time with either him or Ed for a while. It's mainly because I don't want them to find out about Aslan: they always found out some way of figuring things out, and sometimes stuff just slipped out of my mouth without me thinking about it.

I was going to get Tia's saddle when Orieus shook his head and put out his hand to stop me from getting it, "You won't be riding with a saddle today, soldier,"

"Well what else am I going to put on my horse, Oreo? A pillow?" I added, sarcastically.

He shot me a glare, "You will learn to ride bareback, and with it, sword fighting on horse back."

I cringed. I could ride with a saddle quite well, but without one? And with a sword? That was a combination I really didn't like. This was not going to be fun.

After a pain-staking three hours of falling off Tia and swinging my sword around, I finally started to get the hang of fighting on horseback. Without a saddle, you had to keep your balance and concentrate on what was in front of you. Luckily, Tia was a Talking Horse and she would remind me if something or someone dangerous was approaching. She promised me that she would do that for me, and I was incredibly grateful. I wasn't perfect, but I wasn't rubbish either. Oreo wanted me back at the same time tomorrow to work on more bareback combat. Oh, the joys.

With four lessons a day (each lasting around three hours each) I had to wake up at dawn, which was around seven o'clock. Breakfast was usually ten minutes after I got up, and I went straight to horse-riding for my lesson. Lunch was about twenty minutes long, and then I went with Pete and Ed to sword practice. Near the end of sword practice, Susan would come to watch. She was really just waiting on me, but she kept coming earlier and earlier for some reason.

Afterwards, I'd go to archery practice with Su, and sometimes Lu would join in as well! Then I'd go to dagger practice with Lucy until dinner, which lasted between half an hour and an hour. By the time I finished eating my dinner, I went and watched the sunset, before going back to my tent and collapsing into my bed. Dawn didn't have the decency to let me sleep in, so I felt like I had only been asleep for two minutes.

The Pevensies weren't just as busy, but they still had a lot of things to take care of. They were lucky, because they only had to learn one or two fighting skills, and I had to learn a lot more. My magic and martial art skills weren't growing weaker, but they were neglected, especially my magic. But sometimes I managed to get some training for them, either after dinner or if I woke up in the middle of the night from a nightmare.

Abaxrel and the Pevensies were in almost every one of them, but lately, a more fearsome character had appeared. It was a man, but his features were distorted and they struck fear into my heart. I never saw his face properly (mainly because it was blacked out or I woke up) but he was… he was the scariest thing I have ever seen. I felt afraid of him, even if he was just a dream.

I had looked into the mirror this morning, and I saw that my eyes were bloodshot, they had huge black bags under them and the cut on my eyebrow that the Witch had given me had healed very well, and it was just a piece of shiny pink skin. In fact, most injuries had healed except the three scratches across my cheek. They had turned into crimson stains and they looked very ugly and 'unlady like.'

Well, that's what some of the female Narnians have apparently been saying about me. They also said that I shouldn't fight in the war and I should stay on the sidelines with the rest of them. I strongly disagreed with that last one, and I only found out about them through Tirma. Sometimes I felt like some of them didn't like me, and didn't want me here. Oh well, they were just going to have to deal with it, weren't they?

After I had finished horse-riding, I went straight to lunch and then onto sword training with the boys. I really didn't feel like doing anything today, because I was tired and I felt sluggish. Keeping up with it all… I just needed a break! A day off, a couple of hours so that I could just do what I wanted, like going down to the beach to watch the waves crash onto the shore with Tia and Ronny, or gossip with Susan, Seb and Juel, or play hide and seek with Lu, or just sleep! Was that too much to ask?

I unsheathed my sword and readied myself. I had to keep myself going, even if I didn't get dinner tonight. I was just exhausted, and I couldn't help it. Sometimes I woke up after nightmares, and sometimes I had a peaceful sleep. But… if I was like this when the battle came, I don't think I'd have the energy to fight, and I wouldn't go into battle unless I was in tip-top condition. I'm worried, about Aslan, about the Pevensies, about my welfare… it was just too much for me too handle!

The only good thing is that my magic was growing stronger and stronger and I could feel it getting better. That was the only thing that I'm glad about at the minute, but I was so tired that I didn't get to use it. I'd better be one hundred percent sure that my body could handle a battle, otherwise I wouldn't be able to fight along side the people I had grown to love and care about. And that in itself presents a problem.

Could I watch the people I've formed friendships with die in front of my eyes? Could I watch them… perish for Narnia? And for us?

**A/N I haven't said this in a long time but… please review and five me your thoughts! Oh, and a special shout out to Spirit of the Dragon907, Rawr...x and NarnianTudorQueen for their first reviews on this story. And everybody else of course. Thank-you!**

**Xx Elemental Angel xX **


	19. Chapter 18 The Calm before the Storm

**A/N I thought that since I hadn't been updating, you guys should get another chapter! And please give me your thoughts, they mean a heck of a lot to me!**

**Chapter Eighteen ~ The Calm before the Storm **

The next few days passed in a blur. Susan was better at using her bow to shoot her arrows with, but I was better at throwing them (partly because of what I learned from the Dryads.) Lucy was great with her dagger, and she had developed a killer throw, one that made me a little bit scared of her. I really wouldn't want to be the person on the receiving end of that dagger's blade, that's for sure!

I had gone up in the 'rankings' of my sword training group and I was quite proud of that. There were about one hundred of us in that particular group, and Ed and Pete were in the top ten. I'm in the top quarter: a big difference to when I started out! Horse-riding and fighting on Tia was improving, but I still felt very tired when I went to bed. And tonight, I woke up to another nightmare.

_The sky had turned red and the sun was a pathetic ball of black in the sky. All the plants and flowers had died, and the trees were dark silhouettes against the red sky, and they looked like they had been burnt in a fire. The grass also looked like it had been burnt, but it was stained red with blood. _

_But that wasn't the worst part. The Pevensies were positioned in a circle, with me in the centre. But they weren't real, they looked like ghosts. All of them spun around me, and they were about a foot off the ground. _

"_Why did you leave us to die, Rachie?" Lucy asked me, an echo ringing from her voice._

"_I'm sorry, he was just too strong for me!" I defended,_

"_You were supposed to protect us," Susan said, sadly,_

"_I tried too, but he… he…"_

"_We thought you were our friend," Edmund added, turning is back to me_, _like he was disappointed._

"_I am your friend!" I protested, putting my hand on his shoulder. It went straight through him._

"_Then why did you leave us?" Peter said,_

"_It wasn't my fault!"_

"_You put your life before ours, and now you will be haunted by our ghosts!" They all said in a perfect, frightening harmony. They all screamed and flew towards me, going through my abdomen and coming out the other side, flying into the blood coloured sky._

_I looked in front of me and their bodies were in a pile on the ground, lying motionless. The man that terrified me, the man who had only recently appeared in my dream, was holding a familiar grey-silver dagger with red liquid dripping from it near the Pevensies. His face was once again, blacked out by the shadows but he looked every bit as scary. He was wearing a cape made out of a gold material, with a hood of… of…_

_A lion._

I didn't wake up screaming, but I felt tears running down my face. I put on a purple cape and ran out of my tent and towards Susan and Lucy's. Susan was still awake and Lucy was sleeping.

"Rach? Is that you?" Susan whispered over to me. She lit a match and put it on a candle, so we could see each other better. She saw my face and I went over to her, crying into her shoulder and hugging her. Susan was a motherly figure to me, and she comforted me when I needed help, which was mainly from these nightmares. Susan was the one I trusted the most, closely followed by Lucy. The two female Pevensies were always there for me, alongside Juel and Seb. All of them understood and listened to me when I was spewing total crud from my mouth. They were my best friends and practically, my family.

As I cried on Su's shoulder, I felt a small hand on my shoulder. It was Lucy, and I put one arm around her, and the other around Su. I no longer shook or hiccupped, I just cried, the tears creating no noise of their own. Sometimes I sniffed or coughed, but we didn't speak. They didn't need to, because what they were doing now, was all I needed. Talking about it would have just made it worse.

Before I knew it, I woke up on Susan's bed. The three of us must have fallen asleep holding each other, because my arms were still around them, Lucy's hand was holding my left one and Susan had hers on my shoulder. I heard someone moving about, and I looked around. Pete was carrying a horn, accompanied by Ed. I quickly shut my eyes and I heard them mumbling. A noise came from across the room.

"Ow! My shin!" Ed whispered over to Pete,

"Shh! Be quiet," he replied,

"Oh, don't worry about me, I just could have fractured a bone!" Ed answered, sarcastically.

"Okay then, I wont worry!" Pete retorted, every word as sarcastic as Ed's.

"But what if it is broken?"

"Then I'll get you a new one!"

Ed mimicked what Pete had said in a very childish voice. I almost laughed, but I didn't want to blow my cover.

"Ready?" I heard Pete ask Ed. Ed didn't reply, so I assumed that he had nodded. Pete took a deep breath in and Edmund counted down from three. When he said one, I jumped up and punched the side of the trumpet out of Pete's mouth. When it landed on the floor, I picked it up and went back to Su's bed, trying to get back to sleep.

"Don't mess with the best, 'cause the best don't mess," I told them, with my eyes closed, "especially when they're not a morning person," I smiled to myself. I heard Pete and Ed go out of the tent, but I wouldn't let them go without a little comment.

"Ed, you didn't happen to dream about giant marshmallows last night, did you?" I mentally laughed at him when he went bright red and made a hasty exit.

"Rachel one, trumpet, one," I said to myself, falling asleep again.

I felt something move beside me. I opened my eyes and saw Susan going to her wardrobe to get a dress. I yawned and asked her what the time was. She told me that it was about a quarter past seven, and I jumped off the bed. I was very late this morning for breakfast, and I couldn't miss anything! Something attacked me and went over my face.

I almost screamed before I saw that it was a purple dress. Susan was politely covering her mouth to prevent me from seeing that she was laughing at me, before I picked up the horn that was on my bed and blew into it. I threw it back down on the bed and went to the bathroom. I kept a steely gaze until I locked the door and then I laughed at my own stupidity.

After I had had my shower, I changed into the purple dress. Su was in a green dress and Lu was in a light blue one. Su had told me that her favourite colours were green and purple, whilst Lucy's were blue and pink. Mine were red and blue. We all helped do each others hair and walked towards the dining tent. I stayed behind them and didn't talk a lot, so the sisters talked to one another.

I had been getting a feeling that something bad was going to happen. What Aslan had told me about the other night, I felt like… like his death was getting closer and closer. Tears pricked at my eyes but I told them to retreat. I couldn't let Su and Lu see me like this, especially since our sleepover was tomorrow night.

After we had eaten, Orieus came and practically dragged me to the stables by the ear.

"Ow, ow ,ow, can you stop that, OW!"

He gave me a glare, which I happily returned. We arrived in the stables and he plainly said, "Get up."

I put my hands on Tia's back and hoisted myself up, swinging my legs over her back. I dug my heels into her gently and she trotted over to Orieus. Surprisingly, he had my sword and he gave it to me. I wrapped the strap around my waist, locked it in place and took my scimitar out of its ivory sheath. Orieus bowed and I did the same, before he launched a barrage of attacks on me. They were tough to handle, because they had so much power behind them and I was not very strong. I was small in just about every way; my feet were small, my hands were tiny, and I was short, only coming up to Pete's armpit. I was smaller than Su and Ed, but a good six inches taller than Lu.

Anyway, I was desperately trying to block Orieus' hits, sometimes barely getting my blade in the right position. The metallic clang echoed across the green meadow we were in and the familiar shock waves that I got running up my arm when I was using my sword were there as well. The shock waves weren't dissimilar to hitting a hockey ball with my hockey stick back in England, so (unlike Peter and Ed) I didn't have as many problems with the tingling feeling that went up my arm when I hit another sword.

Orieus' strokes got stronger and fiercer, forcing me to lean back to Tia until my back was flat against hers. I saw this as an opportunity to get some ground back, so while Orieus was focusing on hitting my sword, I kicked him in the gut. He held his stomach and his breathing was in short pants.

While he was trying to get his breath back, I used the butt of my sword to hit him on the centre of his chest, making him keel over and his eyes bulged out. I thought I had really hurt him, so I asked him if he was alright, only to be rewarded with a blow to my leg with the butt end of Orieus' sword.

"And who was it who said that you always have to keep your guard up?" he asked me, a cheeky smile playing at the corners of his lips. I kicked him in the abdomen, but he caught my foot and spun my body around. I landed on my back and he raised his sword and brought it down. I rolled out of his way just before his blade hit me, and his sword got stuck in the ground. As he was trying to pull it out, I sweep kicked his rear legs and he fell onto the ground. I pointed my sword at his heart and said 'Dead.'

I smiled and helped him up, taking his sword out of the ground as well.

"I didn't think I could ever do it," I said smiling, "but thank-you Orieus!"

"For what soldier? Beating me?"

"No. For teaching me."

I felt so proud of myself! All the memories and reminders of the Witch and the war just… poofed away!

"Well soldier, just wait until you're off that horse and we have a proper fight, with no magic or martial arts skills," Oreo said. Sheesh! He was a sore loser!

I shrugged my shoulders and took Tia back to the stables, signalling the end of horse-riding training. Once again, I had lunch and did my normal afternoon activities and had dinner, before going to Aslan's Peak.

Aslan's Peak is a cliff edge, made out of the purest white rock and it overlooks the Great Eastern Sea, Cair Paravel, The Camp and Mermaid Cove. Mermaid Cove turned out to be the beach that was beside Cair Paravel, the same beach that Juel and Seb 'died' on. I visited Aslan's Peak often, sometimes for a bit of peace and quiet, and sometimes with the Pevensies, Juel and Seb or Ronny and Tia. Ronny and Tia had really hit it off, and they were quickly becoming friends.

When I arrived, I went to the very edge and dangled my left leg off it. I brought my right knee into my chest, and was still I was in my training outfit. I was thinking over everything and I didn't hear someone come up behind me. A hand touched my shoulder and I screamed.

"Ah!" I shouted, before a hand clamped over my mouth.

"Rachel shhh! It's just me and Ed!" I heard Peter say, and I stopped screaming.

"You can take your hand off my mouth now, or I will lick it." I said, my speech slightly muffled.

Pete took his hand away from my mouth and sat down on my right hand side. Ed sat down on my left as we watched the sunset. Narnia's sunsets were so much clearer and beautiful than those in England. Every one of them managed to take my breath away and leave me speechless.

I looked at that sunset for goodness know how long, until Peter unsheathed his sword.

"Rhindon. This is Rhindon Rach," he said.

"You… you named your sword?" I asked him.

He blushed a bit, "Yeah, I did. I was reading a book about this boy who had a sword, and he named his. And I thought, 'Why can't I?' So, I came up with the name Rhindon," he explained.

Ed took his out and told us that he had named his sword 'Shaflem.' I felt like I had to name my one, so I unsheathed it and put it down beside me. I thought about this for a while, and my hand wandered on to the flat side of my sword and I traced the curved blade and the engravings with my fingers until I had a brain wave.

I reached up to the back of my neck and unclasped my necklace. I traced my fingers over the intricate lion's face before turning it over.

"Nitidae. That's her name."

I proudly held my sword up in a salute to the sunset, the last rays bouncing off the silver metal and gold engravings. I put my sword back in its sheath and absentmindedly started tracing the lines in the lion's head on the hilt of my it. Some conversation was passed around from time to time, but we mainly stayed in silence, soaking in the time we had together.

"You know we might not make it out of the battle alive. The Witch has numbers that exceed our own and… listen, if I die, I want you all to get out of there: save yourselves," Peter said.

"How can you say that? We're in this together, and if you die, then we'll die trying to get your sorry bum off the battlefield," I added.

"But if any of you die and I live, I really don't know how I could cope."

"If it's my destiny to die in the battle, then so be it. But if you mourn me longer than you should, I swear I'll come back and haunt you."

Pete sighed, "I think we should be going to bed now. It's getting rather late and you have that sleepover with my sisters."

I put Nitidae back in her sheath and Pete held his hand out for me. I took it and he pulled me up and I smiled at him, knowing that my gesture had told him 'thanks.' I brushed myself off and said goodbye to both of the boys, before running off towards my tent.

I grabbed some things out of my wardrobe that I would need for the morning and my hand ran over a large package. It seemed to be quite heavy, and what made matters worse was that it was at the back of my wardrobe, but eventually I got it out and dumped it on my bed. I exhaled loudly and remembered that it had been the package Father Christmas had given me when I had only been here a few days.

I was about to open it when Lucy bounced in, taking my hand and dragging me out of my tent and taking me to hers, explaining that everything was set up and ready for a sleepover. I really wanted to know what was inside that package, but I think it can wait until morning.

I walked into Lu's tent and BAM! A pillow straight in the face from Susan. I was shocked for a minute before grabbing one and smacking her back, when Lucy intervened with two pillows and hit us both.

"Hey! That's cheating!" I yelled at the small girl who was grinning from ear to ear.

"If you show me the rules of pillow fights, then you can have a free hit!" she exclaimed, smacking her sister with both of the pillows, her little arms whirring around in the air like helicopter blades.

Several ripped pillows and a lot of bruises later, we were laughing and drinking iced sherbet. Iced sherbet was the nicest drink I've ever tasted: it was smooth, very sweet and incredibly refreshing. Although, it did make us go slightly hyper (it affected Lucy the most). Eventually, Susan and Lucy started to get tired, so we went to bed and started sleeping. Well, they did, I just lay on my back and looked up at the ceiling, thinking about many things.

I decided that maybe some fresh air would help me get to sleep, so I went outside and put my hands behind my head so they formed a pillow. I looked into the midnight blue sky that was dotted with millions of silver glints of light. I stayed there for goodness knows how long until I heard a small twig snap. I jumped up and looked around me, ready to pummel anything that would harm me to a pulp.

"It is only me dear one," I heard a familiar voice say.

"Aslan? What are you doing out at this time of night?"

"I would ask you the same thing," he replied, chuckling slightly.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Nor could I."

Something strange was making the air hum. It felt like… like something sad was about to happen.

"Aslan? When are you going to be- you know," I dragged my finger across my throat because it was painful to even think about Aslan dying.

Aslan looked at me with almost glassy eyes. After a while, I caught on.

"It's tonight, isn't it? That's why you're going now; because you didn't want anyone to follow you."

"You are clever Rachel. Sometimes too clever for your own good," I blushed slightly when he said this, "it's time for me to go. The Witch will be waiting for me and you must help the others prepare for battle. It will be difficult."

I had to bite my lip to stop my eyes welling up, "Oh Aslan," I said, my voice breaking slightly. I ran over to him and hugged him around the neck, "thank-you. Thank-you doing this for Edmund. We can never repay you," I said into his mane.

"Just remember to look out for a vase," he said as he turned away. He was going past the side of the tent that Lu's bed was on, and that's when I first heard her talking.

"Susan!" I heard her whisper. I started hearing movement inside the tent and I lay down on the ground, pretending to sleep. I was conscious of every sound that happened for the next few minutes when I heard the tent flap being opened.

"Rachel! Rachel!" Lucy called over to me.

"Let her sleep Lu. She'll need all the rest she can get with war on the horizon," Susan replied. Less than two minutes later, and they were gone. Less than an hour later, Aslan would be dead. Less than twenty-four hours later, war would raise its ugly head.

_For Narnia…_

**A/N Well that's it from this chapter, and it really starts to kick off in the next one! I have a big twist in for you guys in the next few chapters! Hehehehe… oh, and I'm being a bridesmaid at my cousins wedding tomorrow! Wish me luck!**

**Xx Elemental Angel xX**


	20. Chapter 19 Oh no

A/N Tahnk you to everyone who reviewed last time. You encouraged me to write this quickly!

Chapter Nineteen- Oh no…

I awoke to a lady made of petals standing in my room. I reached for the dagger I kept on my bedside table, but I was lying on the cold, hard ground. I felt drained even though I had just woken up. It was like…it was like something was missing from inside me…something that could help me.

"Be still my princess. I bring grave news from your friends," she said in a low voice. My brain turned on before the rest of my body did, and I got up quickly and sprinted towards the boys' tent. A blizzard of soft pink petals brushed past me and arrived in the tent a few seconds before me.

"-grave news from your sisters," the lady finished saying. I jumped a little bit when I saw that Pete had his sword out.

"Mate, put that thing away before you hurt someone!" I told him. He put his sword away and the petal-lady started telling us all about what had happened with Aslan last night…

A dark cloud of sorrow hung over the camp. Everybody knew about Aslan's death now and some were crying. Everybody was solemn and quiet, and no clangs of swords or twangs of arrow strings were heard throughout the valley. Nobody laughed and everybody was feeling miserable. It was heart breaking to see.

Pete had gone into Aslan's tent, just to make sure that he wasn't dreaming, "She's right. He's gone," he put his hands down on the small table that had a map of Narnia on it.

"Then you'll have to lead us," Ed said.

"I can't!" he exclaimed.

"Aslan believed you could!" I added.

"So do I."

"So do _we_," I stepped in. I put my hand on Pete's shoulder, "if you don't lead us then who will? Everyone will be looking to you Pete. We're all behind you," he gave me a small smile and looked back to the map.

"The Witch's army is nearing, sire. What are your orders?" Orieus asked. Pete looked at the map and then at Ed and I. The look on his face practically begged for us to help him.

"Okay, what we need to do is put the archers on high ground. Then the rest of the army stays on the ground," Ed started as he moved to his brothers side.

Okay, Mr Scott's history lessons on the battle of Hastings might come in after all.

"Where is the battle going to be?" I asked.

"The best place for our archers to aim from would be at Beruna. There are high cliffs and terrain that's good for agile soldiers."

"Aka, our soldiers. Can I have a map of it?" Orieus had a map of Beruna in my hands in two seconds. The boys and I looked at it for a while before I spoke, "the archers will go on the top of the cliff, obviously. I think we should put half on the cliff and half on this small ledge here, in the canyon, so that if we retreat then the archers will be ready to fight."

"And then we can have foot soldiers," Orieus added.

"Yes! On the cliff side!" I said.

"They'll charge towards the Witch's army in a triangle shaped formation," Peter said.

"Like they did in the Spanish Armada!" I put in excitedly.

"What's the Spanish Armada?" Orieus asked.

"You wouldn't understand. It was a battle in our world that happened _ages_ ago," I explained.

"What about the Griffins?" Pete pointed out.

"They could act as bombers," Ed answered.

Pete and I looked at each other, "Bombers?" we asked at the same time.

"Yeah, like the aeroplanes in the war."

"Ah!" I said, patting Ed on the back, "that's a really good idea. In fact, it's brilliant! Gold star for Eddie!"

"But what will they carry?" Orieus inquired.

"Isn't it obvious?" I said. They all looked weirdly at me and I started to smile, "boulders!"

"But what about all of you? Where are you going to be when the battle starts?" Orieus asked.

"I'm going to be at Pete's right hand side," I said proudly.

"No you're not. You're going to be with Ed, on the cliff and out of danger," Pete replied.

"Er, not I'm not. I promised you ages ago that I would be right there by your side, remember that time on the cliff?"

"_By the way, don't think you'll be alone at the front of the battle field. I'll be right there at your right hand side."_

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "Okay, here's what you're going to do. You'll fight on the front line with me, but when the signal is shown, Iron feather will take you to the cliff so you can help the archers and protect Ed."

"But-but…what about you? You'll be in more danger than anyone."

"It doesn't matter. I'm a big boy; I can take care of myself."

"It's my duty to protect you though, even if it means death."

He pulled my into a comforting hug, "I don't want you or anyone else to sacrifice themselves for me. Just keep the others safe and if we aren't winning, run away. Get out of here and save yourselves, and if I'm not with you, if I'm lying in a heap on the ground, tell Susan to look after Mum, Ed and Lu. And you, Rachel, find a way back to the twenty-first century. Leave me."

"Pete I cant leave you. It's the same for Ed and Su and Lu. We're in this together, whether you like it or not."

"Promise me," he said, looking straight in my eyes. He pulled away and put his hands on my shoulders, slouching slightly so he could be at my height. I just looked at him, "promise me," he said in a pleading voice. His eyes were getting glassy, and my throat tightened, "Promise me!" he almost shouted. I nodded my head and bit my lip to stop myself from crying.

"May I have a word, Dame Rachel?" Orieus asked.

I sniffed a little, "You didn't call me soldier." I went towards him and he started whispering.

"Do you really think that we can win?" he said in a hushed tone.

"I'm not a fortune teller Orieus. I cant say if we'll win."

"They have numbers that cast a shadow over ours."

"Numbers don't win a battle. No matter your size, exhibit one," I gestured towards my body, "no matter the odds, miracles can happen." I walked back to the boys and we finished discussing that tactics. Well, for now at least.

I was in my room for the last time before going to war. All of my training…it's about to come in to use. I had already put my sword, daggers and quiver onto Tia's saddle and my armour was about to be made. I sighed deeply.

"Well it's been fun," I said sadly, "but now it's time: time for us to leave. I might not…I might not come back. But I'm the Pevensies' guardian, I'm the one who has to protect them even…even if it means dying to save them," I said, talking to myself. My eyes started to fill up, but I held them back. I noticed the package that I had found a while ago still lying on my bed.

"Oh looky here, Rachel's got a prezzie," I said out loud, almost stupidly. I went over and sat down on my bed and took the package on my lap. I tore off the brown paper and a beautiful sight met my eyes.

"It's…it's…" I whispered in awe as I pulled out the contents. I set them down piece by piece on my bed and admired it in all its glory. I picked up the white piece of cloth with a symbol on it, "it's my own armour."

I unfolded the piece of cloth and the symbol was familiar. Hold on a minute… that's my mark! My mark was on the tunic! But hold on another minute… that means I'm gonna stand out and be a target. Santa, you didn't plan this out did you?

I examined the rest of it and spotted a deep red crimson thing. I unfolded that and it was a skirt with a large golden lion on it. If I looked at the hem, small lions ran across it. The rest of my armour was gleaming silver with vines and flowers on it, and the helmet had a lion's face on the forehead piece. It didn't have a visor, but it covered most of my head and part of my forehead.

The chain mail was the same as Pete's and Ed's (I had seen them in it) and I had to wear the skirt over the chain mail. The boots were the same as Pete's, only smaller and less bulky, and there was a brand new pair of bracers with vines and small lions on them. A white leather glove for my sword hand was present as well.

"Agh!" I yelled, flopping down on my bed and making the armour bounce. I ran my fingers through my hair and down my face. I curled up in a ball and grabbed a pillow. I felt sorry for that pillow, because I screamed into it, threw it across the room, stamped on it and ripped it. All due to stress and thought of the battle. What was going to happen?

I hated war, I just hate it! The violence, the injustice, the _bloodshed_. Innocent lives were lost all because of a silly disagreement. But this wasn't just as silly disagreement: this was something big, something _huge_. If we win, then Narnia is saved from the White Witch's winter. If we don't, then Narnia will be under her control, and hope- hope would become a legend, a myth, a dream for the Narnians. They could barely get by on the belief that we would be here one day. I couldn't let the Narnians down- my people, my new home and my country. No, rephrase that, I _wouldn't_ let them down, even if I died trying.

"Rachel, are you coming?" I heard a voice say. I came out of my ball and stood up to see the Pevensie boys coming through the tent's door.

"You know, I never planned on following in my dad's footsteps," I said, pacing around the room.

"What do you mean?" Pete asked.

"I mean that I didn't want to become a soldier. I wanted to do things that I wanted to do, y'know, travel the world, helping people… trying to rebuild broken lives. War rips not just countries apart: it takes brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers and husbands and wives apart as well. I want to do something important with my life. No, rephrase that, _wanted_ to do something important with my life. But now my future lies here, with these people. And I'm not even sure if I'm gonna live!"

"You are doing something important with your life Rach. You're giving these people the strength to fight and the faith to carry on. We're all doing it. Narnia is our country, and nothing will take that away from us," Pete told me, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"You don't have to fight Ray. We'll do just fine on our own," Ed added as he put his hand on my other shoulder.

"No. I'm gonna fight 'cause I've got a promise to keep."

It had suddenly gotten very dark outside and I couldn't see much. So I snapped my wrist, expecting a ball of light to burst in my palm. But only a feeble spark flew from it. I sighed in frustration as I tried again and the same thing happened again. I repeated this again and again and all I got was a spark. It didn't get any stronger; in fact it got weaker.

I looked at the palms of my hands in disbelief. I walked slowly away from the boys.

"No no no no no no no this isn't happening!" I mumbled to myself.

"What's wrong Rachel?" Pete asked.

"It's not possible…" I said numbly, looking to my left as I said it. I looked at their faces.

"My magic is gone."

A/N Reviews are welcome… please do it!


	21. Chapter 20 Beruna

A/N Sorry I haven't updated in such a long time, but I had my exams and I was banned from the computer. But I've got this chapter written and hope you'll enjoy it! Thanks! Oh, and major hugs are in order, because you guys are the best readers in the world. Seriously, I don't know where this story would be without your support. On with the show!

Chapter Twenty - Beruna

"But how is that possible?" Pete asked.

"I didn't know it _was_ possible," I retorted, staring at my hands.

"Do you no how you could get it back?" Ed asked.

"No!" I shot back, "I didn't know how I got my magic in the first place, never mind losing it!"

"Okay, okay, I was only trying to help," Ed said.

I sighed, putting my thumb and index finger on the bridge of my nose, "Sorry Ed, it's just that I don't know what to do right now. Sure, my magic wouldn't have been incredibly useful during the battle, but it could've helped in some shape or form."

Ed just made a sound of agreement and nodded his head slightly.

"You might think I'm going slightly crazy, but could the reason your magic is gone is because Aslan's dead be due to the fact that your magic is gone?" I looked at him with one eyebrow raised. He held his hands up in surrender, "just a suggestion."

The more I thought about this, the more it seemed to become more realistic, "Come to think of it, I did feel really strange this morning. Like something had been taken out of me: I felt really drained and empty."

"Well, until we can figure it out for definite, we're just going to have to go with that idea; for now at least," Pete said.

"Now the most important thing for us to do is get this army on the move before the Witch's army gets us in a situation we wouldn't want to be in. If we stay here, there's a big chance that she'll get her army to surround us here, which would make us sitting ducks," Ed stated.

"Always thinkin', always thinkin'," I mumbled. We stayed in silence for a little while, "Well?" I said, breaking the silence, "do you want me to get into my armour or not? Get outta here!" I said, make 'shoo' gestures with my hands. I looked at the armour still on my bed, "Now, how am I going to get this on?" I wondered to myself.

After at least three-quarters of an hour, I managed to get most of it on, but I had to ask a random centaur to help me with my shoulder pads. If I hadn't had worn the skirt, my armour would have been almost identical to Pete's, bar the tunic and helmet (the helmet was more like Ed's). My shield was on my back, because it was awkward to ride a horse slowly with a shield on your wrist. I came outside of my tent, said a silent goodbye to the camp and walked over to Tia, who was at the front with Pete, Ed and Oreo.

"Are you ready to leave?" Pete asked.

"As I'll ever be," I replied, putting my helmet on my head.

"Let us move then," Oreo said, trotting forwards. Tia gave a small neigh and then started moving, and we were on our way to Beruna. I didn't look back, because if I did, I knew I would go straight back to the camp. To where I felt safe. All of the skills I had learned over the past two months…they were about to come into play. This wasn't a training exercise that I knew I wouldn't get injured badly, or a video game which I could just hit reset and it would all be fine. I had one chance and that was it. And I had to put the Pevensies lives before my own, no matter how much Pete protested.

I trotted alongside Pete, who had Ed on his left hand side and myself on his right. Very little words were exchanged between us, but to tell you the truth I wasn't really up for much talking. I heard I pair of wings flapping, and I saw Ronny coming to land very gracefully on the land beside me. He tucked his wings away, and started moving alongside Tia and I. We talked for a little while, and in the process, found out that Ronny had been promoted to Captain of the Griffin regiment. I congratulated him, but my mind was elsewhere, so Tia and Ronny talked for surprisingly long.

"My liege, it is time to stop. The men are getting hungry and need to replenish their energy levels," Orieus said to Pete.

"Tell them that we'll stop in that clearing for half an hour," Pete commanded Orieus. Jeesh, I wish I could tell Orieus what to do sometimes. When we stopped, I realised I was quite thirsty and very hot as well. It was probably because of all of this armour. I was still on Tia, so I told Oreo that I was going to find a stream or something and before he could protest, I was already galloping away.

I rode in the shade or the trees and it was actually Tia who had spotted the small stream, "I used top come here when I was a just a little filly. When it was cold, it was hard to find any source of water, so I used my tongue to lick the ice and melt it. Ah, the skills you pick up when you're just a little one," she reminisced. She went to a little patch of grass not far away from the stream while I splashed my face with the cold water and drank some of it. I heard the leaves rustling around me, and when they stopped, I felt something next to me. I looked up and saw a tree spirit smiling at me.

"Greetings, daughter of Rosé-Anne. It is nice to see that the Guardian is once again present in Narnia."

"Um, thanks! I guess my mother helped you with something, didn't she?"

"Yes she did. She planted my tree more than one hundred years ago. She was so gentle and careful with me when she put me in the ground…I remember that like it was only yesterday. You look a lot like her."

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

"You are going to war, yes?" she asked. I nodded, "oh, but surely your hair will get in your way. Let me help you with it," I had forgotten to put my hair up back at the camp, so this was very convenient. She took some blades of grass from the ground and woven them together to form a hair bobble. She worked with my hair for a while and when she was finished, I touched it. It felt like it was some sort of complicated braid, and I knew by the shape of it that it wouldn't fall out easily.

"Thank-you," I said. I looked up at her and saw that she was smoking, "oh my gosh are you alright? Quickly, get in the water!"

"They are burning my tree Rachel. There is nothing that can help me know, but just promise me that you will fulfil your duty to the Pevensies," I nodded and she stretched out her arms. The smoke quickly engulfed her and she burst into flames. After about three seconds, there was nothing left of her except a small cloud of smoke. I touched my braid once more and then ran towards Tia. I mounted her very quickly, and sped off back to the clearing. I failed to notice the small plume of smoke that was staining the clear blue sky in the distance.

Everybody was packing up and getting ready to move to the battle ground and when I burst through the trees, everybody stared at me for a minute. I turned my back to them and joined up with Pete and Ed, who didn't asked me about why I had charged in like that. In fact, nobody asked me, and I was glad of that: I didn't want to explain.

"We are ready to move sire," Oreo said, once again, to Pete.

"Let's go then," he said, digging his heels into his unicorn (of whom I don't know the name of) and lead us all to the Beruna. We came out of the forest, and to my left was the cliff, to me right was another part of the forest. The army knew what positions they had to get into, and we speedily made our way over to the cliff.

"Iron Feather, I want you to try and find how far the Witch's army is from here. Look out for any secret weapons they may have, and how big the army is," Pete told the Captain of the Griffons. Wow, it was going to take a long time to get used to that.

"Of course, my king," Ronny said, bowing.

"I'm going with him," I said.

"No you're not, you're staying here where I can keep an eye on you," Pete stated firmly.

"Pete," I replied, looking at him with a steely expression.

He sighed, "Alright but just so you know, I'm not happy about this."

"Thank you!" I replied over my shoulder, taking off my helmet and leaving it on Tia's saddle, completely ignoring the last bit he said. I slung my quiver over my back (taking off the shield and leaving it on the ground next to Tia) got on Ronny's back, grabbed onto his neck and off he flew. The wind whipped around my face and stung at my eyes, but I kept looking down every so often to see if there were any of the Witch's minions around. About fifteen minutes after we had started flying, Ronny nodded towards me. I didn't know what it meant at the time, but I looked down and saw a whole swarm of dots on the ground.

"The army," I thought to myself. My eyes widened at the sight of so many of them: it was at least twice the size of ours. We had about fifteen thousand, and I thought that was a lot. But thirty thousand? The odds had just gone up in the Witch's favour.

I was so lost in thought that I almost didn't notice an arrow headed straight for us. Ronny took a sharp left and I held on for all I was worth, "They've seen us!" Ronny shouted over to me.

"Well no duh Sherlock," I said inside my head. Ronny took another turn and then a barrel roll to avoid the arrows, which were now coming at us by the dozen. I tried to reach my bow and arrows, but I just couldn't grab the bow. I just clutched onto Ronny for dear life, before Ronny did another barrel roll and then my heart stopped for a second when I saw that the earth was getting closer and closer to us.

"He must have been hit, he must have!" my mind screamed at me. Ronny's body was headed towards a tree, a significant distance away from where the army was.

"If you survive this fall, you'll have to be really careful getting back to the army," something at the very back of my mind said to me.

"Yeah, but right now, I'm more concerned about the tree that I'm heading straight for!" I scolded that part of my brain.

"Three, two, one," I said inside my head as I came into landing (or maybe that should be crashing…)

BAM! I felt myself tumble through the tree and get poked and smacked by the branches. Ronny's body was protecting me from most of the impact, and so did my armour. Ronny's body became lodged in-between two large branches and brought my body to a standstill.

"Oof!" came the sound as I landed. Apart from a sore bum and a couple of bruises that were sure to make an appearance, I was alright. The branches that Ronny had landed on where only a few feet off the ground and within jumping distance. I looked around myself quickly, just to make sure that nobody was nearby and I jumped. When I landed, my legs almost went numb from the impact and I fell on the ground on my side. And then I came to a revelation: I was well and truly lost. I tried to find my bearings, but everywhere looked the same.

I mumbled to myself quite a lot, "If I fell from there then, no that's not right," "but if the sun's there…nah, I can't read the sun," but if Ronny faces that way, then that must be… oh who am I kidding I'm well and truly lost!"

I argued with myself for a couple of minutes but then everything was eerily quiet. I had my back to Ronny's body and I was starting to get a little freaked out, but then my ears picked up a rustling of leaves, a flap of wings and something coming towards me. I was about to turn around, but then I was lifted high into the air by something and I screamed, because I didn't know what was doing this and everything had been so quiet. I felt claws digging into my shoulders, and the grip felt familiar. I touched the talons and felt their smooth surface, but dangerous sharpness as well. Then I saw a dirty gold feather floating in the air in the front of me for a brief second, and I smiled. There was only one thing that had these features, and he was going to get a severe talking to if we both survived this battle.

"Ronny, you are one_ crazy_ bird," I yelled up at him. He looked down at me and in his own Griffon-y way, smiled at me as we flew back to the army and quite possibly, two very nervous Pevensies.

A/N Well there you have it. The battle's about to start, but in no way is this almost the end of this story. I have plenty still planned! Please review and give me your thoughts, and thanks for reading this story so far. Thanks!

Xx Elemental Angel xX


	22. Chapter 21 The Last Stand

**A/N Well, I've finally gotten round to this twist in the story. Some of you mightn't like it, but I'm the author, so I can do what I want with my character Rachel. And I know that the last chapter wasn't as good, and it was only a filler chapter: I didn't expect any reviews for it! But a big thank you to all of you who did, and, well, the only thing to say is 'on with the show!'**

Chapter Twenty-One- The Last Stand

Iron Feather flew gracefully yet quickly back to where our army was situated. He cawed as he flew over Pete, who followed Ronny's flight path. Ed was beside Pete, looking out to the horizon with worry etched across his face. In fact, Pete almost mirrored his expression and, for the first time, they shared some sort of family resemblance. Ronny landed elegantly on Pete's right-hand side, where Tia had been patiently waiting for me.

"They come your highness, in numbers that are far greater than our own!" Ronny said, panting slightly.

"Numbers do not win a battle," Orieus replied, quoting yours truly, which made me smile.

"No," Pete added, "But I bet they help." This wiped the smile off my face and made me focus on the battle.

"I should go now," Ed said.

"As should I. It has been an honour serving you your majesties," Ronny said, swooping his wing over his body and bowing to us.

"It's not over yet," I told him as Ed got on his back, "you too better not die, or I'll resurrect you just to kill you again."

"Good luck Rachel," Ed said. I knew he was being serious because he used my full name.

"You too," I replied, going over to him and giving him a small hug with only one arm. I rubbed Ronny's beak, "I'll see you later."

"As you would say mistress, 'Same here.'" I laughed because it the phrase sounded odd coming from his mouth-I mean beak. I gave his hard, curved beak one more stroke before moving over to Tia and buckling the strap of my shield to my left arm and putting my helmet under my arm. I mounted Tia and checked that my weapons were easy to reach and Tia was happy about everything. Ronny had dropped Ed off on the cliff, grabbed his boulder and flew back down beside Tia. He didn't say a word the whole time because we had already said our goodbyes and he was concentrating on the possible things that would happen during the battle.

"Of course I am mistress. All that worries me is that you might fall off my back when we are in the battle," I chuckled a little bit at Tia's statement, "I would feel much better if a saddle was on my back."

"I'll be fine Tia," and I looked out to the other side of the meadow as I heard a haunting trumpet sound that was coming from that direction, "at least I hope so…" I continued as I saw a small, black speck on the horizon, (which was obviously Otmin because he was the Witch's general), "listen Tia, if I tell you to leave you do it, alright?"

"But mistress-"

"No buts. Just do it," I commanded.

"You would make a great princess," she thought aloud. I didn't reply to her, mainly because there was no reason that I should be a princess and there was a huge mythical creature roaring at us. Charming.

"Maybe I shouldn't be a princess…maybe-no, it _would _be better if the Pevensies ruled by themselves. Maybe I could be the court jester or something like that. Besides, they're entitled to the throne: I'm just the Guardian. I'm just me. I'm just bog-standard, good-at-science incredibly bad-at-art, slightly less than normal Rachel.

'Snap out of it Rachel!' I mentally yelled at myself. I jolted a little bit and then looked in front of me, only to discover that not only Otmin, but the rest of the Witch's army had arrived. It looked even bigger and more terrifying from this angle. I saw the Witch come into view, with her polar-bear drawn chariot. How cliché. But I saw something that made my stomach tighten and my whole body seethe with rage. She was wearing something around her neck, but it was your usual necklace or whatever: it was golden and thick and looked beautifully soft.

Aslan's mane.

I looked over at Pete and pointed at the Witch, "Do you see that?" I asked him. I saw his eyes flash and his jaw tighten, "Sick isn't it?" I finished for him. He nodded with his jaw still locked.

Everybody was silent, and the only thing that I could hear was the flags and banners bearing our colours fluttering behind me. Pete turned around and looked up at the cliff where Ed was. He turned and looked at myself and I nodded, and he did the same to Orieus, who also nodded. He sighed and then raised his sword into the air, causing our own, less disturbing sounding trumpets to be blown and the Narnians to yell at the top of their voices, showing the Witch that they were here to fight and they weren't going to back down.

They drew their weapons and they all knew what they were fighting for: themselves, their freedom and Aslan, not for revenge, but for what he would have wanted, which was to take back what's theirs. The Witch's army was starting to move towards us, signalling the start of this battle. Pete plunged his sword down, telling Ronny to lead us into battle. The Griffon's captain locked his talons around his boulder, flapped his wings and joined the fleet of golden birds that were charging across the sky.

I could see the small specks that were the heavy rocks falling down into the midst of the army. We all cheered as the attack looked like it was going well, but the Witch's archers and harpies retaliated quickly. We could see some of the Griffons plunging towards the earth, which made the rest of us watch in horror as they saw their allies plunge to their deaths.

"I hope Ronny's okay…" I thought.

The opposing army came closer and closer at an alarming rate. I was starting to break into a cold sweat, and my nerves were making me feel sick.

"Are you with me?" Pete asked Orieus.

"To the death," he answered. Pete looked at me, placed his sword in his left hand and extended his hand out. I placed my helmet on my head before answering.

"To the death," I said quietly, taking his hand in my left, which had an armoured glove on it. My white leather one for my sword hand had been improved, with metal protecting my knuckles and where all the other bones in my fingers and palm would be. It made my hand look a little bit skeletal to say the least.

He gave it a tight squeeze and then put his sword back in to his right hand, "For Narnia! And for Aslan!" he yelled at the top of his voice, authority ringing through it. His unicorn reared and then started to charge towards the enemy.

"For Narnia!"

"For Aslan!"

"For Freedom!"

I heard all of these chants behind me, and I shouted some of them as well. Tia galloped as fast as she could and I unsheathed Nitidae. Pete was at the tip of our triangular formation and I was by his side like Orieus was. Pete pushed his visor down and my heart gave a giant stutter.

"We can do this," I thought.

The cheetahs and leopards ran faster than we could gallop and put a significant distance between us. Time almost froze and I couldn't hear anything. But, just before tooth met claw, fur met flesh and sword met body I thought I heard a faint beating sound. It sounded like a heart meter. And then, everything kicked in to gear. I swung my sword down and decapitated a Boggle.

The bloodshed had begun.

I couldn't tell how long I'd been fighting for, but I was starting to get really hot. I wasn't tired though, at least for now. Adrenaline ran through my veins like some sort of drug, and it made me fight harder with every stroke. I was still fighting on Tia's back, and I don't know how many lives I'd taken, but I certainly didn't want somebody counting.

I shoved my sword through a ghouls' body and slashed the arm off a Minotaur. Unfortunately, it happened to be its sword arm (it had been carrying an axe)and when the arm dropped to the ground the blade lodged itself in Tia's leg. She whinnied in pain and I knew she couldn't carry me anymore. I jumped off her back and tried to get it quickly out of her leg.

"Rachel behind you!" she shouted above the noise of the on-going battle. I quickly whirred around and plunged my sword into the beasts' abdomen. I pulled my sword out and tended to Tia's leg. I took the sword out and slapped her rear.

"Go!" I yelled at her. She was about to hesitate, however I yelled, "no buts!" at her. She limped away and I reached for my bow. I fought off a couple of other of the Witch's minions, before I heard something behind me. I spun around, leaving most of my organs behind me, and saw that a dying werewolf was there. I saw the light die from its eyes and the blade come out of its body. A familiar face lay behind it, and what would have been a smug grin in training, was a solemn one. The centaur nodded and I did the same and we stood back to back in the fight. I took a few of my arrows out and fired them at those who tried to kill me. Orieus and I made a great team and we quickly made a small circle of space around ourselves: we could have fought together for the whole battle, however I heard a beautiful song from above me and I knew that it was the signal.

The Phoenix.

The fire-bird flew down and transformed into flame, before swooping down and making a line of fire between our two armies. I knew what happened now, so I sheathed my sword and put my arms in the air, ready to grab onto a Griffons' leg, hopefully Ronny's. But just before I did, another werewolf that had been cut off from the main body of the Witch's army jumped at me and its one of its paws landed on my shoulder. Its claws dug into my shoulder and one of them managed to get through my armour and sink into my flesh. My face contorted into pain, as the weight of the werewolf took me to the ground, and i felt it take its claw out of my shoulder. I saw its snarling face above me and I thought it was going to bite my face off, but before it could do anything a blade ran through its side.

I stood up quickly, knowing that I could have missed my cue to get out of here. I cast a small glance over at my rescuer, and discovered that it was the blonde-haired blue eyed Pevensie, who was still on his unicorn.

"Go already!" he yelled at me.

"I can't! They haven't come for me-e-e-e!" I shouted back, before I felt talons carrying me high into the air. I looked at the talons and could tell that they belonged to Ronny, and a huge weight of worry had been lifted off my mind, so I breathed a huge sigh of relief. But that soon turned to a sharp pang of pain in my shoulder. I think that Ronny had accidently placed his talon on the same place that the werewolf had sunk its claw in. I could tell that it wasn't serious, but it sure did hurt a lot. Ronny dropped me off beside Mr Beaver and Ed before flying off to get another boulder because he and the other Griffons were planning to launch another attack on the remainder of the Witch's army.

"How was it down there?" Mr Beaver asked, "here," he added, handing me a little bit of a bandage-like material, "I saw what happened down there and thought you might need it." I thanked him and, with a lot of effort, stuffed it down my armour and put it on the scratch.

"It's terrifying, but exhilarating at the same time," I told him.

"From what we could see is that we're holding them back, but they're starting to gain more land," Ed added.

"We're not losing yet though. As long as Narnia's worth fightin' for, we'll fight 'till the very end, don't you worry Rachel," Mr Beaver assured me. I loved this little guy, he was so optimistic. Mr and Mrs Beaver were so cute! They were the perfect example of a married couple.

"If there were awards for trying the hardest, we'd win hands down!" I said to him as we reached the small ledge on the end of the small canyon. I took out my bow and loaded it before taking my place beside Seb and Juel.

"Yeah? Well there are none Rachel. This is a war, and the only award that some of us will get is a blade through the stomach. So stop treating this like it's some form of entertainment!" Ed snapped at me. This was not like the Ed that I had come to know. Maybe this was his dark side or maybe, his true personality.

I tried to find words to talk back at him, but all that came out of my mouth were some squeaks, "See? You cant even-oh I'm not going to waste my breath," he replied coldly.

"Oi!" I shouted at him, "Do you think that I think that this is some sort of game? That I don't care about anyone? Well for your information, I_ do_ care and I'm only trying to brush this whole thing off lightly because I'll never look at myself the same again! I've killed so many people today Ed, and I didn't even ask myself, 'Could they have had a family?' 'What were they like?' You haven't killed yet," I said, getting close to him and pointing at him, with my jaw forward slightly and staring at him with steel in my eyes, "consider that a blessing."

He brushed past me again and took his place on the small piece of rock that jutted out, "I'm only killing because it's for these people. Aren't you doing the same?" He questioned me.

"Of course I am, otherwise I wouldn't be here."

"Well then start acting like you are," he replied, turning his back to me.

"This isn't like you Ed," I mumbled. He didn't turn around and retort, so I assumed that he didn't hear it.

From that moment on, I just shut my mouth and didn't even attempt to talk to him. Seb sent me a sympathetic smile and Juel was mouthing what Ed had just been saying and added a few _colourful _words into it, which made me smile at her immaturity but it made me think about what he had said.

'_Stop treating this like it's some form of entertainment!'_

'_I'm not going to waste my breath.'_

'_It's for these people.'_

'_Well then start acting like you are.'_

These words echoed through my mind, but Juel nudged me and motioned for me to raise me bow. I did so, but I called over to Ed once again, "I don't think what I think of this war is wrong Ed, but if either of us die, we'll never forgive each other for arguing like this." He just turned away and raised his sword as a low rumbling grew louder and louder. Before I knew it, I saw our own soldiers charging towards us and a few seconds later, we pulled back our bow strings and fired when Ed's sword dropped. I reloaded and fired again and again before the entire canyon was swamped with soldiers from both armies so I didn't know if I was hitting an ally or an enemy. I decided that now was the time to go back into battle, so I took the button out of my skirt to let my armoured legs have more room to move and I jumped off the ledge, which was only about five-foot high.

I unsheathed Nitidae and resumed my deadly dance of blades and arrows. I held my sword in my right hand and my bow in my left, and I smashed the ends of my bows into my enemy's diaphragms and temples. If I hit their diaphragm then I would run my sword through them while they were trying to catch their breath, but if I hit them in the temple I just knocked them out and left them there. I spun and slashed and dodged and bashed before I saw her, strutting around with Aslan's mane around her neck like it was some sort of accessory. But to me, it was more than an accessory: it was a piece of Narnia itself. Seeing that around her neck….it just made something snap within me. I let out a cry of rage and clenched my teeth together before sprinting towards her.

I flung my sword out in all directions at enemies, but I kept my gaze on the Witch, my eyes never wandering from her. In no time at all, i was standing face-to-face with the woman who had controlled Narnia with her evil one hundred year winter. She had her sword in one hand and her wand in the other, and although I didn't know much about her wand except that it was some sort of her wand, I knew by the way she held it that it was both powerful and something to be wary of. She thrust her sword at my side, but I jumped out of the way: just barely though.

She got down off her chariot and we started our own personal battle: sword against scimitar, bow against wand. I tried to hit her and she dodged, she swung her sword at my head I ducked. We were locked in our own little world, where the first contact of our weapons against the others flesh would quite possibly the last. She crossed her weapons over each other and tried to slit my throat with either of them, but I threw my head back and avoided it, almost causing me to fall over. My helmet slipped off my head and landed on the ground next to me, freeing my sweat soaked hair and leaving my head exposed. I was getting nervous because after my helmet had hit the ground, we just stopped. She had her weapons by her sides and she had an annoying smirk on her face. We stared at each other for a long time, before she yelled 'Now!' into the air.

I had no idea why, but after she had finished yelling, I felt something behind me, like some sort of presence. I cautiously turned around and saw something that caused me to gasp in fear. The man in front of me was at least seven foot tall, with wild, untamed black hair and a scar over his right eye, which didn't have an iris or a pupil. He other eye an incredibly light grey colour that was just about darker than the white of his eye, and probably wouldn't have been noticeable if it wasn't for the darker grey ring around his iris. He was pure muscle, and the black sleeveless, ragged shirt he was wearing exaggerated the bulging, tanned mountains on his arms. He had knee-high dirty brown boots and tight black trousers that showed his huge thighs and muscly calves. He was absolutely huge, and his face showed no emotion. I didn't even want to know what this huge tank of a man was like personality-wise. But this man was not just scary because of his appearance, but because I had seen him before.

In my nightmares.

All of this happened in less than a second, but then I saw the large blade in his hand. I was about to gasp before he pierced my body with his sword: straight through my abdomen and coming out at my back. My entire body filled with ice, and I lost all the breath in my body. I didn't blink once; I just stood there motionless, as if time had stopped and I couldn't hear anything except my own heartbeat. I managed to breathe once more before he pulled his sword, and when he did, the world started moving again. The ice that had filled my body had quickly melted to make way for a blazing inferno that engulfed all of my senses. I screamed at the top of my lungs and I put my hands over the large wound in my stomach, and saw the red substance start dyeing my hands its own, horrifying colour. I haven't told many people, but I thought think I have slight haemophobia: a fear of blood.

I fell to the ground because I was in so much pain, and I heard a dark chuckling from above me. My vision was starting to falter, but I could tell that it was the huge man who had stabbed me who was laughing. My energy was dropping at an extreme speed, and my hearing was once again, fading away. Blood was coming out of my body like some sort of fountain, and I knew that I by the rate it was spilling out of me, I wasn't going to last much longer: the wound had caused way to much damage. I could feel the liquid soaking my skin under my armour, and the white of my tunic was turning pink and even red in some places.

My eyelids were starting to droop and my senses were all numb: I couldn't hear anything, I couldn't feel anything, I couldn't even see properly. Maybe that's what my killer wanted; to see me suffer and die painstakingly slow. He didn't want to kill me quickly and deny himself the honour of seeing me lying there, on the ground, sliding down a slippery slop to death. I closed my eyes and waited for death to come, preferably sooner than later. I felt like I was just going to sleep, and it didn't even hurt anymore except from a low hum of pain in my abdomen. But, one last thing registered in my senses: being lifted up into the air. I used all of my energy to reopen my eyes and saw Ronny carrying me away from the Witch and_ him_.

He placed me on the ground, ever so gently, near a small cave that was a short distance away from the battle. I could feel my lungs taking in less and less air and my heart rate slowing down. My system was shutting down, but I saw the blonde Pevensie's face come into my field of vision. I could see him yelling things at me, but I couldn't hear them. I felt myself slipping away, and my body had no life-force left in it. Although I couldn't hear myself say them, I knew what i had said.

"Be a good brother," I told him. He kept on moving his mouth, his eyes filled with fear for me, "Goodbye," I said with my last breath. My eyes fluttered closed and I heard just two more things. One of them was a smashing sound, and behind my closed eyelids, I could see that a light was being produced. The second was Pete shouting my name, over and over again before it dissipated into an echo.

I entered a long black tunnel, with a speck of white at the end of it. I knew that I was moving on from this life, and moving onward to whatever happened next. The speck got bigger and bigger, and I knew that I was reaching the end of it.

"Don't go into the light Rachel," a small voice said.

But I couldn't help myself. I was transfixed on it, and it was impossible to avoid it. It was like I was a piece of iron and that light was the magnet. I flew into the light and everything was white.

And that was the end of Rachel Elfin.

**A/N So who was expecting that? He he he…. I told you I had some plot twists lined up! But now I'm facing a little bit of a dilemma…. Should I stop the story here, or should I write more? I really don't know what to do! So…if you want this story to keep going, then tell me that in a review, and if you don't want it to keep going, do the same thing! But for now, it's over to you guys…**

**Xx Elemental Angel xX**


	23. Chapter 22 Reality?

**A/N Look who's continuing her story! Umm…it's me! Just want to thank you guys who reviewed in my last chapter: you all helped me make my decision to continue this story! So…thanks a lot and I heart you all! Just tell me if you think I made the right decision, and if you have any questions to ask me, I'll be happy to answer them in my next chapter! Thank you! **

**And also, I just want to say to Immortalis79** **that I really miss their reviews. They're amazing! You helped me correct my mistakes, and gave me great advice! So, if you're reading this, I really miss your reviews. So….just wanted to say that. But honestly, I really do. **

**But I luuuuuurrrrvvvveeee everyone's reviews and thoughts on this story. Thank you all, and on with the show!**

Chapter Twenty-Two – Reality?

The white light just kept getting brighter and brighter until it blinded me, and I had to close my eyes because it was starting to hurt my eyes with a searing pain and it was also starting to hurt my head. The light died down for a minute and I could open my eyes, only to see that the tunnel was starting to warp, going from black to white to spotty and stripy. I looked around myself and got a little freaked out, but then the white light consumed me again. Unlike the last time, when I just moved numbly along the tunnel, I could feel myself moving. I opened my eyes once more, to see a large, burning thing at the end of the tunnel. I tried to move away from it, but the more I struggled, the faster I moved. As I got towards it, I could make out that it was a lion's face.

'Aslan!' I thought to myself, 'he's come to save me!' I expected him to say something to me, but when I was practically inched away from his face, he roared and swallowed me up with his fiery fangs.

That could have been the end of Rachel Elfin. But she had one last task to do in the Twenty-First century

* * *

I shot straight up in bed, my eyes wide, adrenaline pumping around my body. My expression changed into one of dull pain because a lot of my right side was in a dull, almost humming pain. The kind of pain you get when something's healing like a broken bone, or getting your braces tightened. Like a broken heart. My senses kicked into action, and I could smell disinfectant and it automatically clicked in my brain that I was in a hospital. In London. In the twenty-first century. And NOT Narnia. But it seemed so real…could it have been a dream? After what seemed like hours of debating back and forth in my head, my mind settled on it being a dream: just barely though. But what was weird, is that when I was in 'Narnia', I kept having visions about this very room. Now _that_ was crazy.

Hospitals, ugh, horrible places. I've hated them ever since my granddad (dad's dad) was in the hospital because his liver failed when I was about…oh my word I've got the memory span of a goldfish… about three or four I think. Thankfully he got through it but at the cost of the life of a young woman who died in a car crash just a few hours before. It's kinda like, a light in a dark tunnel.

Getting out of the bed was quite painful: it felt like I hadn't moved in ages, or that feeling you get after doing loads of exercise the day before. I noticed I was in a hospital gown and I groaned. I was not someone who looked through clothes magazines all the time, but it was a little bit embarrassing. You know, those things are like tracing paper-super thin and translucent. Embarrassing! I walked slowly out of the hospital room and into the corridor, where it was buzzing with whatever the rest of the hospital was getting on with. A young nurse was coming around the corner, looking intently at a clipboard. Perfect target.

"Hi there, umm, sorry to bother you but could you please tell me why I'm in this hole-I mean, establishment?" Phew, close one there. Nice save Rachers.

She looked at me for a minute, and I could tell that my 'nice save' wasn't as good as I had hoped. But she studied my face for a minute and then looked at her clipboard, then me, then the board, and then back again. I was incredibly tempted to cross my arms and start tapping my foot on the ground, or look at my wrist, but after my 'nice save,' it probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. I started looking around me instead, before I heard something hitting the ground. I quickly looked down at what had made the noise and discovered that it was the nurse had dropped her clipboard. She was looking at me weirdly, and I was getting slightly uncomfortable with her looking at me with that expression.

"Um, is there a problem here?" I asked.

"You-you woke up! Finally!" she said, slightly exasperated.

"Huh? Look lady, I know I like my lie-ins 'till one in the afternoon but you don't have to be shocked by it! I'm thirteen, what else do ya think I'm gonna do? Homework?"

But she was already halfway down the corridor, and I just stood there stunned. I looked up at the ceiling and held my hands out, eyebrows raised, "Why do I even try?" I pleaded, before going back to my prison cell.

About half an hour later, my Aunt Laura and Uncle Glen busted into the 'room of imprisonment,' almost knocking the poor door off its hinges. They both rushed over to me and if I hadn't been lying on the bed, I would've been knocked over! They hugged me like they needed me to keep their hearts beating or something. They ignored my stunned facial expression, and after what seemed like forever, they finally let me breathe again, with tears coming down Aunt Laura's face like a waterfall, and Uncle Glen had glassy eyes. I felt like I was chasing my tail, because I had no idea what was going on. Aunt Laura sobbed and sobbed before finally pulling herself together.

"Oh Rach- oh Rachel," she chocked out before sitting down on a chair beside my bed, "I thought I'd never see your eyes open again…"

"What is going on?" I blurted out, nearly shouting. They looked at me, and the look on their faces made me feel slightly guilty for yelling. But I have to admit, it was necessary.

"You mean-You mean you don't remember?" Uncle Glen.

"Well of course she wouldn't Glen! After what happened to her? I'm surprised she remembers our names!" Aunt Laura said, "Rachel, it was about two months ago that you came out of school and were hit by a car. The person driving had been drinking, and he was speeding. He hit you and you…you went into a coma. They threatened that they would turn your life support machine off, but we kept telling them to keep it on. We knew you would wake up. And we were right!" She replied, doing a little victory punch in the air. You see, my aunt and uncle are slightly crazy, and a bit on the optimistic side. And by a little, I mean a lot. Uncle Glen is my dad's brother, and they could pass for twins, despite Uncle Glen being two years younger than my dad. And the coma could explain why I had been having those visions when I was in Narnia, and that Narnia was only a dream.

"Well…that's…that's great!" I said with a small laugh, "how is everyone? Any news from dad yet? He told me that he was doing fine the last time I heard from him."

Uncle Glen looked sad, "Oh no. You didn't tell him that I was in a coma? Oh my gosh, he must be worried sick!"

"We didn't get the chance to," he whispered under his breath.

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked. Something was wrong, and I had that strange feeling in my stomach that I get when I know something bad has happened. Something _really_ bad.

"Your-your father was shot and killed two days ago. There was nothing they could do for him; he was killed instantly," Aunt Laura said in a comforting voice. She took my hand a squeezed it tight, but her words didn't shock me, or make me sad, or hit me like a ton of bricks. They didn't even make me cry: they just made me numb, like I was frozen in time and my body was shutting down. I just sat there: knowing that this was a situation that went beyond tears. I couldn't even cry for my dead father.

"But it's not all doom and gloom. He was an organ donor, and so far, parts of his body have helped twelve people. He helped someone see for the first time Rach," Aunt Laura explained while Uncle Glen was as quiet as a mouse.

"He always did want to help people, didn't he?" I said, looking straight at her. She nodded sadly yet proudly, and my bottom lip started quivering, "It's what he would have wanted," I added. And then my eyes started clouding over with tears, "I'm so proud of him!" I proclaimed, lunging forward to hug Aunt Laura. The words she had said about my dad dying were finally making me let out of my frozen state and into reality, and the tears would not stop coming.

"My brave soldier daddy; saving people even though he couldn't save himself. My amazing, loveable, stupid dad. He's gone. He's really gone," I mumbled into Aunt Laura's shoulder.

"My brave soldier daddy," I said once again.

* * *

The next five days passed by in a blur: I was allowed out of hospital, Aunt Laura and Uncle Glen took me on a shopping spree to celebrate, I got my ears pierced once more on the lobe, once in the top of my right ear and once on the side of my left (they'll regret that in the future) and the whole time I had off school. Although, I had to do homework unfortunately, but in the safety of my bedroom. My three best (and only) friends came over and Nina (my bestest and only female friend) gushed over my and yelled at me for being so stupid to get knocked over and James and Matthew (my two best guy friends) made me laugh until my sides hurt. Ah, the four weirdos united again. They had made me a beautiful collage of pictures of us doing loads of different things, and I stuck it above the headboard of my small single bed in my six foot by eight foot room.

However, not even that could distract me from thinking about my father. Uncle Glen was planning it, knowing full well that I wanted no part in planning it because I still couldn't come to terms with the fact that he was gone. I was awfully upset about the entire thing, and I tried to push it to the back of my mind. Aunt Laura _seemed_ to be coping well with it, probably because she wanted to stay strong for Uncle Glen and myself. I put a smile on my face during the day, and joked around with everybody, but at night the tears came. I let it all go at night, and while I was crying late into the night, I could hear Uncle Glen sobbing too. Who could blame him? Come to think of it, I haven't seen him around lately.

But I also wondered a lot about that place that I had had been in whilst I was in my coma. I questioned myself again and again about whether it was real or not: sometimes it was real, sometimes it wasn't, and sometimes I couldn't make up my mind! But the only person I hadn't seen was my grandmother. It was about seven o'clock on Friday night that I was finally allowed to leave confinement and see her. You see, she's quite frail, and I didn't want her leaving her house just I case she hurt herself or something, and she obviously couldn't drive: she's like, seventy something!

I put on my new white skinny jeans, baggy grey top with the British flag on it and my awesome army style boots. I grabbed my new IPod (with loads of new songs on it and a camera on the back) and took it with me, only to discover it was almost out of battery. I had a brainwave and took my solar-powered charger out of my drawer. I walked out of my room with 'Kings of Leon' blasting through my ears and did a weird little dance because the beat was amazing. I went down the stairs and Aunt Laura was saying stuff, but I obviously couldn't hear her. She yanked my earphones out and before I could protest, she handed me a package and told me 'Turn the music down or you'll ruin your hearing!' I mimicked her very badly and she threw a towel at me.

"Watch it missus." She warned me.

"Who's this for?"

"It's for your grandmother; the postman sent it to the wrong address again. Get a move on! It'll be dark soon."

"All right, all right, don't get your knickers in a twist," she gave me a look that said 'go before I get another towel.' I opened the front door and just before I closed it, I heard her yell, "Don't forget to tell her about the funeral tomorrow!" This made me feel upset again, and I felt like I had been punched in the stomach, so I put my earphones back in, turned up the music, and focused on the words.

'_Although, no-one understood, _

_there was more of them than us,_

_learning how to dance the rain…'_

I was now humming/singing to Take That songs. Kings of Leon finished three streets ago. Grandma's house was a twenty minute walk away from my aunt and uncles house, and she was my mum's mum: dad's mum was dead and Granddad (who had a liver transplant) was in a nursing home. My mum's dad well… I never asked about what happened to him, and I never heard much about him. She still wears the wedding and engagement rings though. Mum was her only kid.

"Granny, I'm here to see you!" I yelled through the letterbox after ringing the doorbell twice. I know, I'm being a little impatient and rude but hey, I could've died and I really wanted to see her. I wrapped my earphones around the IPod and shoved it in one pocket and my charger in the other.

"Alrighty dearie, hold on just one minute!" I heard her say. She was obviously down in the cellar again. About two minutes later, granny was giving me a hug and I was just talking to her about everything.

"…and I also had a really weird dream while I was in a coma. Somewhere called Narnia or something," I told her, laughing. She had been smiling, but now her face had turned into frown.

"Narnia…it can't be," she mumbled to herself.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Oh nothing, just an old woman thinking," she said with a weak laugh at the end.

"You old? Please, you don't look a day over eighty-six!"

"I'm seventy-two dear."

"Oh…well…awkward," I said, "oh, and this package came for you. The postie put it through our door instead of yours," I held out the parcel to her, which she slowly took, like it was some sort of fragile object. She turned away from me and mumbled things to herself.

"Well now Rachel, are you coming down to the cellar?" she asked.

"If it's alright with you," I replied.

The cellar is just a small room with about four stairs leading down to it underneath the house. It's not much, but it's where Granny keeps her magic books and practices some spells and things like that. I don't do much magic, so I take some of the books that don't have spells in it and read stories about magic. To tell you the truth, I'm not incredibly good at magic. Maybe that dream showed me what I really wanted to be able to do as well!

The cellar has a small table in the centre, usually littered with lots of books and pages and anything else Granny had been playing with. On the walls were shelves upon shelves of books, except for one which my hammock was in. It looked like a small library, despite the fact that it was used for magic. I would spend hours upon hours reading books in the hammock.

Granny groaned because her sciatica was causing her pain again, "Granny, you really should sit down and take pain killers or something. How about I make you a nice hot water bottle or something?" I suggested. I could never, ever be mad with her: I mean, how could you be mad at your cute little Granny? That's just…sick in my opinion. I act a little bit differently around my Granny than other people, because she is an old-timer (no offense to old people). She also taught me never to swear, or drink etcetera, mainly because of all the stories she told me when I was younger about what would happen if I did. They sure taught me!

"No, I'm fine dear," she replied, struggling to get the words out while she had one hand on her back, "just getting old: it's not pleasant," I laughed at my wee (wee=little) granny. We got down to talking about everything, like my coma and what had happened during it.

"Oh, by the way, Aunt Laura wanted me to tell you about the fu-" I chocked on the word, "Funeral tomorrow."

"Oh my, Rachel. I'm so sorry about you dad," she said in a comforting tone, before pulling me into a hug. She was a few inches taller than me, but I was catching up.

"I know," I replied, "but on the bright side, I could be taller than you in a few years," she raised an eyebrow at me, "Okay, but someday I will be taller than someone."

She patted me on the head, "That's my tiny granddaughter." My jaw fell open in fake shock and she laughed at this.

"Oh are you gonna open that?" I asked, pointing towards the package which was on the table. She ran her fingers over the corner of the parcel and sighed.

"Rachel, what was that place that you told me that you dreamt about when you were in the hospital?" she inquired, putting two hands on the side of the table with her back to me.

I laughed before she turned around and gave me a dead serious look, "Oh…you were being serious…" I wondered aloud, "well it was called Narnia."

"And tell me about Narnia."

"Well, it's home to mythical creatures and an insane Witch. It's a beautiful country, with landscapes that stretch as far as the eye can see: amazing ones at that. It's a perfect world that's ruled by the Great Lion Aslan, but he's dead now because the White Witch killed him, and there are these children called Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, and they're…" I rambled on and on about Narnia, giving her every single detail about every single thing that lived and happened there. By the end, Granny was shaking for some reason.

"Granny, are you alright?" I placed my hand lightly on her back and rubbed it. Her head nodded and shook at the same time.

"It's time you knew the truth Rachel, about everything. Sit down," she ordered, so I sat down on the hammock.

"Do you know my name?" she asked.

I laughed, "Of course I do!"

"Then what is it?" she retorted.

"I-I-I…I have no idea," I said, after some consideration. It's something I haven't really thought about it, but now that I've been put on the spot like that, I realised I didn't know my_ own_ _Grandmothers _name.

"And you do not know my surname?" she inquired. I shook my head, "which also means you did not know who your mother's surname was?" again, another shake of my head. After all of those years, all of that time that I had spent with her and my mother, I didn't know their side of the family's name.

"Dear, my name is Polly, Polly Plummer, and I was there when Aslan created Narnia with my best friend, Digory Kirke, a long time ago."

My eyes looked at the ground and darted around for until I found the right word, "What?"

"I have been to Narnia before, and I can assure you that it is no dream: it's real. It's as real as this house is, it's as real as you are. You weren't dreaming when you were in that coma."

"So it's real?" I asked, clarifying what had just been said.

"Yes, and there's something else you should know. How old do you think I am?"

"Seventy-two, you just told me ten minutes ago. Why?"

"Because I was really born in 1889. I'm really supposed to be more than one hundred years old."

I just stared at her, shocked at confused. I inhaled to speak, but she beat me to it, "Before you start asking questions, let me explain. It was 1929, and my husband and I were expecting our first child. But I went back to Narnia, and I gave birth to the child there. She was the next Guardian of Narnia, and after a lot of persuasion, Aslan made me leave the child there. But there's more. That child was your mother, and he gave me a choice: to go back to 1929, or go to the late Twentieth century, where I'd be guaranteed to see my daughter again and a new granddaughter. I chose to go to the Twentieth century, because I couldn't bear to look at my husband's face when I told him that I lost the baby, and Aslan made me the age I am now.

However, he left me with a duty. He knew that you would be the next Guardian and that your mother would be taken by the White Witch. He gave me magical abilities and entrusted me to protect you until," she lifted the parcel, "this arrived."

"A box? What's so special about a box?" I queried.

"It's not the box that's special: it's what's _inside _the box," she said, taking the outer packaging off the parcel. After a lot of rummaging and unbelievable amounts of packaging, she pulled out a small, white vase. But instead of having a hole for things like flowers in the top, it was sealed off. Granny looked at it with a small smile on her face, but her eyes looked sad.

"Here, hold it. You decide our futures from here on," she placed it carefully into my hands, and it was a lot heavier than it looked. I studied it for a minute, and noticed the small, swirling details all over it. And the lion's face with its mane billowing in the invisible wind in the centre. There was no mistaking that face.

"Aslan," we both said at the same time.

"Look out for a vase…" I said to myself, remembering what the Great Lion had told me, "so this is what he meant."

"Ah, so you've told you about it then? Do you know what this vase can do?" I shook my head, "if you break it, then you go back to Narnia, even though you died you come back to life and I go back to my time, my age corrected. If you choose not to, then our lives carry on as normal. It's your choice."

I stared at the vase in my hand and ran my now sweaty thumb over it. I looked at it intently, going over the possibilities in my mind. But my friends and family were here, in this reality.

"No. This is how my life now, and how it will always be. I can't do it," I reached out towards Granny to give her the vase back, but she shook her head.

"Keep it, it belongs to you now," she whispered, with a slight sound of disappointment in her voice. She twisted her engagement ring around her finger absentmindedly. I left the room hastily, almost running away from the house. I opened the door and images of Narnia flashed before my eyes. Waking up, seeing the Pevensies, Father Christmas, Aslan, the countless hours spent using my weapons and getting beaten up by Oreo, the sunsets I watched by myself and with the Pevensie boys, sleepovers with the girls, iced sherbet, the Witch, the incident on Mermaid Cove and the attack on the camp. But the one sound that haunted the whole flashback, was the sound of laughter: Lucy's, Ed's, Su's, Pete's and my own, all mingled together. I had made my decision.

I ran in to the cellar and gave my Granny one last hug, before smiling at her and smashing the vase on the floor. The sound of the vase hitting the floor had barely reached my ears before I started feeling incredibly excited and nervous. Something stirred deep within me and I saw Granny starting to glow. I put my hand in front of my face and saw it starting to glow, before sparks started jumping off my skin and making me glow even brighter. We were both glowing incredibly bright, until we turned into miniature supernovas.

"I love you Granny," I said to her, grabbing her hand.

"I love you two, my tiny granddaughter."

I took my last look of the Twenty-First century, "Au revoir," I whispered quietly to the world with a small wave. The light grew unbearable and I closed my eyes, feeling Granny's hand disappear from my grip. The light faded and I ended up in a familiar tunnel. I came towards the end and looked back, but there was nothing there, just the tunnel.

"Alright Dame Rachel Lustor, time to live up to your title. It's time to shine," I said, the last word echoing through my ears as I came out of the tunnel. The first thing my senses picked up was a loud roar: it was clearly Aslan. I felt dried blood against my skin and heavy clothes over my body. My hands traced the patterns of my clothes just to make sure I wasn't dreaming because my eyes were closed, and I felt the sun on my face. The sun that could only belong to Narnia.

"Time to shine," I said quietly, the sounds of the nearby battle going through my ears.

And I opened my eyes just as the Lion stopped roaring.

This could have been the end of Rachel Elfin. But, she needed to rescue her grandmother, Polly Plummer, from the Twenty-First century first. Her grandmother was in the wrong time period and now, after what Rachel did, everything is right. But there is one more twist in this Narnian tale…a shining battle against the one who uses dark magic, which will lead her life and her skills, to an all new level…

**A/N So? Do you think I made the right decision? Let me know! Thanks again to everyone who reads, reviews, favourites and alerts this story. Review please! I own nothing.**

**Xx Elemental Angel xX**


	24. Chapter 23 An Old Enemy

**A/N Hi guys! *Waves* Well this story had only a few chapters left in it, but even though it only has a few chappies left doesn't mean that there isn't enough for one more plot twist! He he he…all will become clear in this chapter. Now to answer some things!**

**MaskedNarnianQueen-Yes I will continue this story and I'm ninety percent sure that I will do a sequel!**

**Princess of Narnia 1192 and Eve Hale- Awwww! Thank you guys! **

**Just a question for you guys…what should I name this series? Suggestions are very welcome! Oh, and what do you think will happen in the sequel, or in the upcoming chapters of this story? I'd love-no, absolutely adore to hear what you guys think! **

**And I would just like to recommend Dark Tigresssssssssss story to everybody; The Chronicles of Narnia 4:The Lost Guardians. It's her first story and I know how important to an author their first story is. Heck, I'm still on my first story! So please check it out and give it some support if you wanna! Anyway, on with the show!**

**Chapter Twenty-Three-An old enemy**

I slowly got up and watched the soldiers running into battle. I felt around for Nitidae, but she wasn't there, so I took my bow in one hand and a dagger in the other, before charging in with them. I felt like I was on top of the world, and that nothing could stop me whilst is stabbed and smashed. I used my bow to hit them on the head, or wind them, and delivered the final blow with the dagger. Our army, for the first time in the battle, had the upper hand and were finally beating them.

I stabbed another one of the Witch's minions and pulled the dagger out, when I saw one of our own soldiers on the ground, obviously male, grasping their abdomen and yanking handfuls of grass out of the ground to try and keep his grip on life. His breathing was getting shallower and more laboured and I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. That gave one Minotaur the chance to elbow me in the mouth, and I tasted blood. I think my lip was split, and maybe I bit my tongue, but apart from that I was just a little bit shocked. I threw my hand with my bow in it straight at his head, and it made him stumble back a couple of feet away from me. Without a second thought I threw the dagger at him, quick as a snake, and took it out of his body when I was sure he was dead.

"This shouldn't be happening," I thought to myself, "I was dead! And being dead means you go bye bye! Which means you don't do stuff like…like not being dead! But…I'm still here. How mucked up is that?" I remembered the soldier that was on the ground and I ran over to him. As I got closer and closer, I recognised him, and I almost threw up. My breath caught in my throat and it took all of my willpower to get any oxygen into my lungs. That soldier was…Edmund. I rushed over to him and took his helmet off his head, watching him struggle for his next breath. I took his hand and put the bottom half of my leg underneath my body when I sat down, shaking like a leaf.

"Ed, Ed, is okay. I'm here, and the battle's over and Lucy will be here any minute with her cordial," I comforted, failing epically. His eyelids were starting to droop and his breathing was slowing down, "no, no, don't you dare leave me Edmund Pevensie don't you dare!" A single tear ran down my filthy, blood-stained face, "Don't you even think about it for one second," I finished, a lump in my throat that was so big that I thought I had swallowed a cannonball.

For one frightening second, his eyes closed completely, "Edmund!" I yelled, clutching onto his hand for all I was worth. His eyes opened slightly, and that usual chocolate-brown colour of his irises that I had grown so familiar of was nothing in comparison to what it used to be. The usual glint in his eye that told you he was up to something, or when he was laughing, was losing it's shine. The boy in front of me was a mere shadow of the Edmund Pevensie I had come to know and love as one of my closest friends.

I placed my left hand on his stomach and the other over his heart, but my left hand pulled away after it came in contact with something warm and sticky. I pulled it away and it was covered in blood. I remembered the material that I had put on my own shoulder when I had been bitten by the wolf. I put my hand in and pulled it out, finding that there was a whole lot more material than I expected. I placed it over his wound and watched it turn from the off-white colour to a sickening red in a matter of minutes. He was losing too much blood, and I don't think that I could do anything for him. Not even my magic could help him…

My magic! As I thought about it for a whole half second, I discovered that the hole that my magic had left when I lost it was filled. I quickly flicked my wrist and a small ball of light appeared. I would have smiled if the situation wasn't as dire.

"Ed, I remember the first time I met you, I could tell that you were the kind of person that was very disappointed in himself and had low self-esteem at the time. You had betrayed your siblings, and you had every right to feel bad. But over the short time we've known each other, you've come out of hiding, because you knew that although you did something incredibly stupid, you knew that you'd never do something like it ever again. You, Pete, Su and Lu…you're the best friends I could've wished for. And I'm not going to watch you die: I'm not gonna let you!" My voice was breaking over the last sentence, and Ed just watched me eyes that were filled with emotion as he struggled to hold on to life.

"I'm not gonna watch you slip away," I whispered as the hand I placed on his heart clenched and unclenched, "just hang in there mate, hang in there," and I said a silent prayer that he would make it through this, "Oh hurry up Lucy!" I screamed into the air.

Ed took a coughing fit and specks of blood flew from his mouth, "Tell my family I love them, and that I was right not to listen to Pete," I laughed a little bit when he said this, "And Ray? Thank-you for being my friend, and I'm sorry for arguing earlier" he managed to say through his last breaths.

"It was an honour being your friend Eddie, and I'm sorry too," I smiled as another tear ran down my face, "and the same to you."

His breath hitched and he breathed just a few times more, "Bye," he gasped. And his body fell limp.

"No Ed! This wasn't meant to happen! You've gotta stay here with me," but it was pointless, "we were meant to grow up together Ed, me and your family laughing all the time and seeing each other everyday. Through our ups and downs, we would rule Narnia fairly. And you would be in charge of so many things. You and me and Lu… we were meant to play hide-and-seek all the time, and Su and Pete would say 'Grow up already! You're so immature!' But even just today, we've been forced to grow up before our time. We're just normal kids. And I was your Guardian: I was meant to protect you!" I yelled angrily. I put the left side of my face to his body, so I could look at his face and expect him to jump up and shout 'Ha! I got you sooo bad!' but with each passing moment that became less and less probable.

"I failed you," I mumbled to his body, but nothing would answer me but the wind.

"Ed? Edmund? ED!" I heard people shouting as they looked for Ed.

I raised my head slightly off his body, "Over here!" I shouted back and I heard their feet running towards me. I placed my head back on his body just as they all ran up the small hill and collapsed beside their youngest brother. Lucy unbuckled her cordial and let a single drop fall into his mouth. Su's gaze met mine, and I shook my head. After a few minutes, all of their faces showed expressions of great sadness: a sadness that nothing could bring them out of the dumps from. I looked at their faces, and Pete's was quite possibly the 'straw that broke the camel's back' and I clenched my eyes shut and put my head on Ed's body.

I could hear them all silently sobbing, and I wondered what it would be like at his-his…

His funeral. I've escaped from one funeral and run straight into another as if it was a brick wall.

Water escaped my eyes uncontrollably, and they all soaked into Ed's tunic. But that's when I heard it. That faint, beautiful beat that played a soothing melody through the ear that was pressed against his body.

I sat up like I had been electrocuted, and I pressed my hand once more to the place where his heart would lie beneath all of his armour. Even through his thick chain-mail, I could feel his heart beating. I placed my hand under his nose, and I could feel warm air coming out of it.

"Give it up Rachel, we were too late," Su said, fiddling with Ed's hair.

"We couldn't save him," Pete added solemnly. That was not his voice. Lucy was crying uncontrollably by her brother's body.

"No wait," I said, putting my hand to the place in his neck that a pulse would be. After the longest two seconds of my life, I felt the blood vessel jump in his throat. A smile that would break my face in to two pieces if I was smiling even the slightest bit wider stretched across my face. I flicked my head up and smiled at the Pevensies, and Pete and Su gave me dirty looks.

"Do you think that this is funny?" Pete asked.

"Did you help kill him?" Su inquired her voice as cold as ice.

"No. Look," I said, pointing at Ed. After a few seconds, he started coughing and everyone was automatically at his side again as he opened his eyes. Susan gave a relieved laugh, and Pete looked as if he was about to burst out crying. Lucy smiled and laughed breathily and I took my head off Ed's chest. I let out small chuckle, and then it got louder and louder as it turned into a fit of uncontrollable and thankful laughter. Pete took his brother in his arms and hugged/crushed him like it was the last thing he would ever do.

I smiled at the two Pevensie girls broadly and we shared our own little group hug.

"I'm so so so sorry Rachel," Su apologised profusely after our hug had ended.

"For doing what?" I asked. Happiness was flowing through my veins more than blood was, and I was overjoyed.

"For saying that you helped kill my brother," she replied quietly.

"It's okay Su. The way that I was sitting next to him when he was just lying there, I would've blamed me too!" We both shared another small hug and a girly laugh.

Pete finally let Ed out of his death-grip, "When are you going to learn to do as you're told?" Pete asked, with a laugh playing through his voice. Ed gave him a smile, and we all piled into one big hug.

"Feeling the lurve people! Feeling the love!" I said, causing them to laugh. We all separated and saw Aslan breathing on a statue, and it slowly went from grey to multi-coloured, and I was in awe. The Great Lion looked over at us and Lucy knew exactly what to do. She grabbed the clear bottle filled with red liquid and started to run around the battlefield, healing the wounded whilst Aslan 'de-statued' all of the soldiers that had been turned to stone.

"We're even now," I said to Ed, pointing my finger at him and referring to both of our brushes with death today. He chuckled a little bit, before giving me a hug. I didn't know what mood everyone was in today, with all of this hugging, but I sure wasn't complaining!

I was about to ask the three remaining Pevensies to fill me in on everything that had happened whilst I was back in the Twenty-First century, but as I stood up to walk over to them, Peter grabbed me around the waist and lifted me high into the air, spinning me around.

"You're alive! You're alive! Fantastic!" he said as we spun. I placed my hands on his shoulders and laughed with him.

"Yeah, and it's great for me too!" I told him through giggles.

"Not for much longer you aren't," a low, husky voice said. It sent shivers up my spine and Peter set me down on the ground so I could face the person who said it. When my eyes saw who it was, I almost ran screaming to the hills. It was that man who killed me.

"You know, I could just kill you now," he said, running his hand up his blade and turning it around as he did, his one good eye transfixed on it. That scar above his other eye was so gruesome looking that it was somehow hard to look away from.

"Oh, you're looking at this?" he asked, "well you should, because you know the one who gave it to me." It took a while for me to piece it together in my mind, and then it clicked.

"Rosé-Ann Marie Plummer," we said at the same time.

"And now I have come back for revenge, but since she's not here, I'll have to make do with you instead," he said as if it was no big deal. He smiled a horrible yellow-toothed smile at me that would have made a grown man feel faint, but I just looked at him, my facial expression stony and unfaltering despite all that had happened a few minutes prior to this.

"But, what I can't believe, is that you look exactly like the person that the Witch told me to kill during the battle. She looked a lot like Rosé-Anne… oh well, and unfortunate family resemblance from an even more unfortunate person."

Under my stony exterior, I was a volcano about to erupt, "That _was_ me," I hissed at him through clenched teeth.

"Oh, then I will have great joy in killing you again," he said very calmly. He was on my last good nerve this guy, and I felt like strangling him. In fact, I had killed him at least seven times in seven different ways in my head.

I smiled a nervous smile, looking around me and shifting my weight from foot to foot, before looking directly at him, "This war is over. You've lost, and the Witch is gone. Now get your sorry butt out of here, before Aslan comes along and roars you into oblivion." I crossed my arms and tried to stay calm, but I was starting to break a sweat. After someone kills you and terrorises you in you dreams, you start to get a little scared. But I wasn't just scared: I was terrified, and my knees were like jelly, but as heavy as stone at the same time.

"You do know that _my _army is still out there, waiting for me to give the command to come back and fight again."

A small smirk appeared at the corner of my mouth, "Our numbers have to at least double yours, and with Aslan back, you don't stand a chance."

"That is very true, but it is not to win this battle. They have one order, and one order only: to kill any Sons of Adam or Daughters of Eve that come their way, and I am sure that there are not many of them. And if my memory serves me well, there are only five of them in the whole of Narnia. I am sure you know who I am talking about, yes?" I just stood there, watching him intently with fire blazing in my eyes. He sighed, "I am getting impatient Rachel. I think I'll just go back and join my army and give them the order now."

"No wait!" I cried before my brain had any chance to protest, "leave them alone, and I'll fight you. _Only_ if you don't touch them."

He sneered at me and casually paced over to me. The stench of him was almost unbearable, and his breath was no better, "Are you ready to go, Dame Lustor?" he bowed down in mock respect.

"I have to have proof that you have an army, or I won't fight," I threatened.

"My pleasure," he said, leading me towards the main battlefield. I looked back at Su, Ed and Pete, who wore expressions of great fear, seething anger, and concern. They all got up and came over to me, and Su gently grabbed my arm.

"You don't have to do this you know," Pete said.

I shrugged my shoulders, "I already failed you all once. I'm not gonna let that happen again." I was referring to Ed getting seriously injured, and they all knew that.

"We can look after ourselves," Ed retorted.

I shook my head, "As Aslan would say, 'It's my duty,'" they all nodded, but they were slight movements of the head. I pulled my arm out of Su's grip and followed 'Scarface' as I had named him. As I was walking, I saw something glinting in the distance. I slowly jogged up to it and discovered it was-

"Nitidae," I said under my breath as cleaned it on the ground and held it up. I put her back in her sheath and kept following Scarface until we reached the battlefield, and kept walking until we were roughly in the middle of the grassy plain.

* * *

"Okay well…where is your 'army'? I asked putting air floats around army.

He raised his arm towards the direction of where the Witch's army first stood. He brought it over his head in a beckoning motion and suddenly, a small but thick line appeared on the horizon. It was about a quarter of the starting amount of the Witch's army, but still could do significant damage to our remaining numbers and carry out what they had been told do. I looked back at the cliff for a moment before turning and facing Scarface.

"Are you milady?" he asked.

"Just one question. What's your name?"

"My name is Deimos the Destroyer, the Death bringer, the…"

"The guy with too many titles," I mumbled to myself, but it was obvious that he'd heard me.

"Let us do battle, and this time, it's not to first blood, it is to the death. But I would like to make it more interesting. Care to listen?"

"I'm listening," I replied.

"Let's say…how about we raise the stakes as such?"

"Alright then…um, if I win, then you automatically surrender."

"But if I win, then my army is allowed to do whatever they want with the rest of your army. Any _member_ or _members_."

Realising what he meant, I protested, "No wait, I don't want to raise the stakes. Let's not do that anymore."

"Too late. A deal is a deal, and you will become acquainted with this sort of situation when you become a princess. That is, if my Zunarii sword has not run it's blade through your heart first," he laughed evilly, and it made a cold sweat break out all over me and it made my veins turn to ice. With much difficulty, I managed to swallow and then slowly took my sword out.

"To the death?" he said.

"To the death," I replied.

We started circling each other, each of us looking for any sort of falter in each others defence. He quickly moved his foot, to see if I would react, and I almost did. I was starting to get a little bit edgy, but then he through his sword at my side and I blocked it with my shield. I tried to sweep in low and hit his leg, but he did some sort of manoeuvre with his sword and deflected it. He raised his sword above his head and attempted to hit me on the head, but I put my sword up horizontally and stopped it again. His sword grinded against mine, and I'm telling you, he was strong: it wasn't all for show.

We moved into a dangerous dance, slicing and thrusting as we tried to get a hit in, and more importantly for me, try and protect those people who had intrusted, not of their own free will but because I had been designated their Guardian , their lives to me. I was starting to show signs of wearing down and he was noticing this, but I still managed to get away unscathed so far. The odd close call, but otherwise I was fine. Just a little scared, but when this fight started (when my legs could hardly keep my body up) I felt less tense and I melted into the elegant and skilful movements of our swords and the ferocity of our strokes.

I hit his sword once more, and we both pushed against each other, trying to outdo the others strength. I knew he was so much stronger than I was, but I didn't notice him putting one of his feet around my right ankle. He pulled it back and I fell really hard onto the ground; so hard that it knocked the wind out of me. He raised his sword in the air, with both of his beefy, scarred hands on the top of it, ready to plunge it down and skewer my heart. Maybe he would do it with so much strength that I would die instantly, or perhaps he just wanted to see me squirm around on the ground as I slowly lost my life.

"Goodbye, Dame Elfin Lustor. And say hello to your mother for me when you get to where she is."

I wanted to clench my eyes shut and bring my arms up to defend myself, but I couldn't. It was as if something powerful was pinning me to the ground, and then, to my horror, I saw his hand glowing. It had a black/very dark purple aura, which was slightly clichéd because, well, this is a bad guy.

"You're not the only one who can use magic you know," he said, pointing his sword at my neck and admiring his hand, "and this time, it's not your mothers' goody-two shoes kind of magic. This is true, pure magic, and it will destroy you."

As soon as he had finished saying this, he pointed at me and my chest went incredibly tight. I was asthmatic, and knew when it was going to give me grief, but this wasn't like that. This kind of tightness wasn't normal, and I knew that myself. I felt like someone had reached into my lungs and squeezed all of the air out of them. I started making chocking sounds and I couldn't breathe. I lay on the ground, twitching and seeing stars in front of my eyes, but soon my eyes settled on the top of the cliff where I had stood with Ed after the Phoenix had been fired.

But I saw something moving up there, something large, and despite the stars, I was able to pick out a golden glint off it. I was starting to lose consciousness, and I knew that I would be in big trouble if I couldn't get oxygen into my lungs, but I was able to hear the mighty roar that shook Narnia on its foundations.

**A/N Review! And questions are welcome. Thanks! You guys are awesome!**

**Xx Elemental Angel xX**


	25. Chapter 24 The magic lives in all of us

**A/N New chappie! Just to clear something up, Deimos is the White Witch's general, and he has met Rachel's mother before. She gave him the scar over his eye, and he's back for revenge, and he's gonna take it out on Rachel: he's gonna kill her! Also, he's threatening to attack the Pevensies if Rachel doesn't fight him, and if he kills her, he'll attack them. He has a quarter of the Witch's remaining army members in the forest, so he wants to try and kill as many Narnians as possible. So he basically wants to kill Rachel, then command his 'army' to find and kill the Pevensies so the prophesy won't come true. He's really fearsome looking and he's appeared in Rachel's dreams/nightmares. He's also very mysterious, and not much is known about him, other than the fact that he's over one hundred years old. Is that okay? If you need anything else cleared up, just ask!**

**princess emma of narnia- Hope this is quick enough for ya!**

**Dark Tigresssssssss-No problem! And who knows? She might marry Pete…or not hehehe…**

**Princesss Of Narnia 1192-Sorry that it was so confusing, but I hope that you understand a little better now!**

**Mr Blobby's cheesecake- Thank you!**

**Feel the love-Aww! Thank you very much!**

**Milk'n'CookiesBookworm- 'Tell me when you have finished the updation'….hahahaha! Lawl! I would've been angry with her as well! Grrr…he he!**

**Xion's Person-Thank-you very much! You're review is very much appreciated. **

**MaskedNarnianQueen- Awk that's great that you've enjoyed reading this story as much as I have done writing it! I can't wait to read the sequel either haha!**

**Eve Hale- If I had time, I would thank everybody who has reviewed this story so far! But I don't and I feel bad about it sometimes …but I'm glad that I made you feel like you were part of this story and not just another reviewer. **

**Wow that was REALLY long. Sorry it was :L. Anyway, on with the show!**

**Chapter Twenty-Five- The magic lives in all of us **

Deimos clamped his hands to his ears and fell to the ground, like he had just had his eardrums broken or Aslan's roar was some sort of mental poison. I looked back to the cliff and there was no shape there, but then I started to get butterflies in my stomach. But these weren't normal, as they spread throughout my body like wildfire. I felt lighter than air and I started to fell like a sort of tingling sensation on my skin. I rolled up my sleeve, which wasn't easy because of my armour, and looked at my skin, and there seemed to be small veins of light moving under my skin.

"Rachel, are you alright?" I heard Susan shout. She wasn't too far away, and I raised my head slightly to see all the Pevensies running towards me. They came to my side and I stood up, my body still having that strange feeling.

"Yeah I'm fine," I replied quietly.

"But he's still here!" Lucy piped up, making a reference towards Deimos.

"I know, I couldn't beat him. Yet."

"We can help you!" Lucy said.

"No, it's my problem. I made a deal with him and… you know, gotta 'sign the contract,'" I put my hands on my head because it was so light that it hurt a little bit, "Ouch," I mumbled.

"Yeah my head hurts too," Su said.

"Really? Mine too," Lucy added.

"I thought it was just me… but I've got a sore head," Pete joined in.

"A little twinge but nothing really painful," Ed said.

"And you all felt really light before?" I asked. They all nodded, "just after Aslan roared?" They nodded again, "something's not right here… hold on a sec, show me your arms."

They all looked at me strangely, but they let me look at their arms. I was shocked to see that the same small shots of light that had appeared on my skin had appeared on theirs as well. Lucy's light was a green colour, Ed's was red, Susan had blue, Pete had yellow and I had white.

"I see that you have noticed the energy that runs within the Chosen Ones," Aslan said from behind us. He walked majestically towards us before stopping a short distance behind us, "all it needed was to be woken up."

"Ha…" Deimos panted. We looked over at him as he struggled to get up, "the Chosen Ones? They are mere humans that are easily disposed of. That one," he said, pointing at me, "couldn't even stay alive."

"I'm back now," I said, "and I'm stronger than ever."

"You're a silly little girl who doesn't know her own heritage and true power. I hear that you once filled an empty cup with tea once? How precious. Don't mind me as I use _proper _magic to rip your body into tiny, little pieces and feed them to the birds," he looked evilly at the Pevensies, "but not before you watch your beloved Pevensies burn before your eyes," he sighed, "I will have great joy in listening to your screams while they yell your name and accuse you of not doing your duty. Isn't it to protect them? And Aslan…well, he's already abandoned you."

We all looked simultaneously behind us, only to discover that he wasn't there. I for one, was a little bit disappointed to see that Aslan had left us by ourselves to face this monster: and by a little, I mean a lot.

"We don't need Aslan to beat you," I told him defiantly.

He chuckled, "Oh, it's a real shame to kill you. You have a lot of courage, a little bit….too much."

He started yelling, not with rage, but with power. A dark purple and black energy surrounded him, the energy crackling with shots of what looked like lightning. The weather was changing: I could feel it, because it started to get colder than it was literally ten seconds ago. A violent wind picked up, and the sky that was once blue was filled with thunderclouds. Lightning was filling the sky, and one of the lighting bolts hit a piece of ground scarily close to us, making the Pevensie girls and I make a high-pitched yelps of fright.

My hair was coming out of its braid, and flying everywhere, in my eyes and whipping around my face. Lucy was clutching on to Susan in fright, and they were both on the ground, rocking each other back and forth. The Pevensie boys were on the ground as well, protecting and trying to comfort their sisters. I took one last glance at Deimos and went over to the siblings, adding to the small huddle. If this was it, then I wanted to be with my friends and family.

But I had no family.

However, I had my friends, and if these were my last moments (for the second time today) then I would die holding them in my arms.

Deimos had a huge field of his dark magic swirling around him, like some sort of hurricane. His eyes turned completely black and smouldered with power, and it just kept getting bigger. He had stopped yelling a while ago, "Time to say goodbye, Chosen Ones," he said darkly, before releasing all of his power that he had stored up towards us in one, terrifying blast. The purple-black magic soared towards us, and everyone shut their eyes tightly and the arms around me squeezed me into a desperate last hug.

I expected to feel the magic hitting us as soon as I had closed my eyes, but strangely, it hadn't. I could feel arms still around me, and I could hear them breathing (Lucy was whimpering slightly). I cautiously opened one eye and relief and curiosity filled my soul. I slowly got up, telling the siblings that we were safe.

I looked straight in front of me, and a wonderful sight fell upon my eyes. Blocking Deimos' magic was a force field, but not just a normal one: one that had five layers. The outer layer was yellow, the second was blue, the third was red, the fourth was green and the last was white. All of us were standing in awe of the miraculous thing that had protected us.

The black magic had been beaten back by the force-field, and we were safe and sound. But Deimos had other ideas. He started to build up his magic again, but this time, it didn't have that combination of purple and black: it was as black as coal, dark as night. More and more energy built up around him, his magic reaching our barrier and touching the yellow part of the shield. To my horror, the yellow barrier smashed into pieces, leaving the blue one to withstand the dark magic. But not even the blue part could protect us, as it was demolished just like the yellow shield had. Now, only the red, green and white ones remained. I looked around at the Pevensies who all wore the same expression: worry. That facial expression told me that, as their Guardian, I had to do something, and quickly, because that red part wouldn't last long.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by the feeling of my skin being stabbed by a thousand needles. I rolled up my sleeve again, and instead of the short flashes of light that I had seen earlier, they were now long streaks that glowed underneath my skin for long periods of time. I motioned for he siblings to show me their arms, and the same was happening on their skin. Before long, the red barrier had been defeated by the dark cloud of magic that wasn't touching us due to the ten-inch thick green and white force-field in front of me. But, just after the red part of the force-field, the light under our skin got brighter and wasn't going to start fading anytime soon: it was there to stay.

The black magic had started seeping into the green part, and I was starting to panic. But then, the Pevensies and I started glowing even brighter in our respective colours. I looked at them and then Deimos.

"_He's charging up his magic," _I thought to myself, _"he's charging…charging up his magic…charge! We need to try and charge!"_

"Guys," I said to them, "I know I might sound crazy, but I think that our skin is glowing because of magic."

"Magic? But we thought that you were the only one who had magic!" Susan exclaimed. The red barrier smashed.

"I know, but," my mind went back to what Deimos had said.

"_Time to say goodnight, Chosen Ones."_

"We're the Chosen Ones…" I said to them, "and the Deep Magic might have something to do with it," I stated, remembering that Aslan had said something about it.

"That's the thing that brought Aslan back to life!" Lucy said happily.

"There is a Deep Magic that rules over Narnia. It defines right from wrong and helps us fulfil destinies," Peter quoted, his voice wistful, "he told me that before you came here Rachel."

"Well since it's the only plan we have, then we'd better put it into action. Look!" Ed said, pointing at the green shield that was almost completely filled with the black energy. It was destroyed immediately after.

"Everybody hold hands!" Susan commanded. We all did so, and I found myself in the middle, holding Su's and Ed's hands.

"How is this going to help us?" I asked Su above the noise of the wind that was starting to pick up since there was only the white shield left.

"Since, we need to charge up this 'magic', I thought that it would be more powerful if we combined our powers by connecting our hands, so that it will mean that all of our power will be charged up instead of individually," she finished.

"Susan Pevensie… you really are the smartest cookie in the box."

We all stopped talking and kept on watching the black energy penetrating the last layer of the force-field. I felt my own magic levels soaring, and for the first while it was a nice buzzing kind of feeling, but then it started to hurt, and hurt really bad. I clenched my teeth together to stop myself from screaming out loud, but then I looked over at the white layer again. It wouldn't last too long.

"Three," something said in the back of my mind. The pain was almost unbearable, and I felt like I was about to burst into millions of pieces.

"Two," it said again. I was very nearly at breaking point.

"One," it counted down. Our own magic was swirling around us in a huge tornado, rather like Deimos' magic had been, but with red, blue, green and yellow all blending into it. My own colour was only seen in a small sphere around my body, not in the colourful, swirling form that lay all around me and above me.

"Zero."

The white shield had fallen. Yellow, blue, red and green beams all hurtled towards Deimos' huge fog of black magic. But I was still charging, my own beam of magic not shooting forwards like the others had. The four beams were not being pushed back, but they also weren't making the black smog disappear. There was something missing. The pain in my body was still, impossibly for me, rising. I screamed the loudest I ever have.

"Let go," a familiar voice said in the back of my mind. And I released Susan and Edmund's hands.

I shot into the air like a firework, leaving a streak of white behind me. I was about forty feet in the air and I was surrounded by a veil of my own white magic. It kept growing, surrounding my body, until I felt hands slip into mine. I looked at my right hand.

"Mum?" I asked. She wasn't in human form; she was in the form in which I had seen her when I was in the Witch's castle. A white, ghostly, translucent substance made her up her body.

"Yes, it is me Rachel. I have been awakened a powerful release of magic."

"Yep, that was me and the Pevensies."

"The Pevensies and _I_," she corrected, "anyway, I have come back to tell you that you are being so brave. Me and the other Guardians are all behind you."

"The other Guardians and _I_."

"We are here to lend you our powers and end this war. We have hated it, and now we have the opportunity to stop this horrible conflict right now."

I felt another hand slip into my left, "And your old man's here as well!"

"Don't forget your grandmother!"

I turned to see my grandmother and Dad smiling at me. I knew I had to do this.

"What do I have to do?" I asked my mother.

"You must let the Guardians put their power into you," she said, as a lot of other white forms joined our line, "then, we will all give you the magical power to defeat this man. But, you must let go."

"Let go of what?" I inquired.

"You must let go of everything. At this moment, the magic is hurting you because you are tied to everything in it. When you let go, the power will flow through you."

"How do I let go?"

"Let your mind go blank. Stop caring. Stop loving. And, when you do, even if it's for a split second, the magic will be released."

"How can I stop caring? How can I stop loving?" I asked her, shocked.

"Because if you don't, the things that you _do_ care for and_ do_ love, will die," her eyes moved towards the Pevensies, who were still producing the coloured beams from their bodies. But I could see that they were thinner and the black smog was starting to close i. I was starting to panic but mum soothed me.

"Rachel, just know that we are all here because we love you, and want to help you to save Narnia. If you and the Pevensies don't defeat him, Narnia could slip into another dark era of pain and suffering."

"What about Aslan?"

"Aslan isn't in Narnia right now."

I took one last look at the Pevensies and then closed my eyes. I pushed every single thought out of my head, concentrating so hard that it overwhelmed the pain that the magic was giving me. It took forever to push everything out of my mind, and sometimes it was difficult to keep it out of my mind, but I knew that I had to do this. My family and my friends depended on it, and they were the fuel that kept me burning, burning to keep my mind blank.

It was almost impossible to stop caring. It was almost impossible to stop loving.

But, for one shining moment, my mind went blank. And I opened my eyes to witness myself shooting towards the centre of the black smog.

* * *

Ronny's POV

One minute, everybody's happy, the next they're worried. This all started when the sky went dark. Myself and some other Griffons went on patrol to try and find any of the Witch's remaining minions, but in the middle of the battle field, a huge cloud of black had formed. I flew in closer to get a closer look, and the sight was terrifying.

The four future kings and queens and my mistress were all in a sort of huddle as the black cloud got closer and closer to them. I was about to swoop in and get them, before a sort of multi-coloured barrier appeared. It seemed to block out the black fog's advance, but a few minutes later, I saw one of them disappear. Before I could move my body in to action, a voice entered my head.

"Ronny…" it said. I recognised the voice.

"Rosé-Anne?" I asked.

"Yes Ronny, it's me and I'm telling you not to come any closer to those children."

"But…why?"

"Because, if any other living thing got close to them or that black energy…they would lose their life. It's because the power that is being produced is so great, that only the Chosen Ones have the strength to withstand it."

"The Chosen Ones?"

"Yes, the humans: the four Pevensie children and the Guardian. There is an ancient prophesy that has long been lost that has told me about this;

_When Adams' sons' and Eves' daughters',_

_Are no longer divided,_

_The Deep Magic will be united,_

_And awaken to become his and hers,_

_And defeat the Dark One's magic,_

_With the strength of earth and fire,_

_Water and Air,_

_And finally Light._

We have to trust them." She finished.

I nodded reluctantly, my eyes never leaving the five young humans below me, "Can I watch? From a safe distance?" she seemed to sigh within my head.

"Alright."

I watched as the barriers slowly broke down and the humans started to glow. I was extremely shocked and confused at this, but then four different coloured beams shot from them. I watched in awe as the beams attacked the black smog, but a scream brought me back to my senses. I looked to where the sound had come from, and I saw one of them launch into the air, leaving a white streak behind them.

"Rachel…" a voice told me. I kept on looking at my mistress, and an entire line of white forms soon joined her, stretching from left to right. These soon moved to form a line behind her, making her at the front of the line, and the one at the very back moved into the body of the one in front of it. This continued, and each time the next one in the chain got bigger and brighter, and when the reached Rachel, the energy that had been built up formed with her and made her shoot towards the centre of the black smog.

* * *

Rachel's POV

I felt myself hurtling through the air and when I blinked, I was in the clear air, but the next time I blinked, black swirled around me. I kept on going into the blackness, before I came in contact with something hard and powerful. I drilled against it, before the thing that I was drilling against felt like it was getting weaker and weaker and finally, it went completely slack. There was an explosion, and everything went as black as the smog

* * *

Third Person

The young girl twisted her body around so that it acted like a drill against the large man's shield of black magic. She broke through it, hit the one creating the magic and a deafening noise was produced. Smoke formed a large plume in the air, but a few seconds after the explosion, the thunderclouds disappeared.

The blue sky was a relief to see for all those who had seen the events that had unfolded during the past day, and the rejoicing began. The soldiers cheered and the fauns danced with the dryads once more, until one centaur, a Griffon and a Lion started to talking with one another, away from the celebrations.

"Where did you go Aslan?" The centaur asked.

"I decided to leave Narnia for a moment." The Lion replied.

"But….why? The children could have died!" the Griffon blurted out.

"I knew that they would be safe, as written in the ancient manuscripts."

"But what if they had not succeeded? If they had died, what would Narnia have been like?" the centaur said.

"I knew they would not fail because the Deep Magic was with them."

"The Deep Magic?" The centaur and Griffon exclaimed, "how?"

"They were the Chosen Ones, and had the Deep Magic living within them. All it needed was 'a wake-up call' as the Guardian would say."

"And how did the Magic awaken?" The centaur asked.

"I called to it," The Lion said. The centaur and Griffon had clueless expressions on their faces, "I roared, and that is how it awakened. But it is of the upmost importance that we travel to see our future rulers. It seems like the Guardian could not wait for dusk to come before she went to sleep." The Lion walked away from two very confused creatures. They both looked at each other, and the centaur shrugged his shoulders. They ran, well, galloped and flew after the Great Lion and all they had to do was follow the incredibly noticeable pillar of smoke in the middle of the green meadow that had recently become the site of the end of the Hundred Year Winter.

* * *

Rachel lay on the ground, unconscious due to exhaustion. The tall, black-haired man that lay on the ground near her was the one who had made the thunderclouds cover the sky and produce magic so great that it took five people to defeat him. Deimos, the Dark Master was dead.

Or, you would have thought so until his hand curled into a fist.

"_I will return, and next time, you won't be so lucky, Guardian."_

**A/N Review!**

**Xx Elemental Angel xX**


	26. Chapter 25  New Responsibilities

**A/N Sorry about any confusion about the last chapter guys: the last chapter was accidentally repeated: my computer spazzed out when I tried to update -.- Anyway, I wanted to update today because tomorrow I'm away on a camp for a week. *sad face* but the camp is EPIC so that's good for me at least. There are going to be about two or three more chapters left of this story, and then there will be a little break before the sequel! Yay! Answering some reviews then!**

**IwannabeAnnabeth-Awww! Thank you so very much for your reviews! They mean a lot, and I mean A LOT!**

**Princess of Narnia 1192-That's good that you get it now! I'm sorry it confused you, but it's all good now, right?**

**MaskedNarnianQueen-Thank-you so much! And you're not repeating yourself (I don't care if you do!) just thanks for reviewing! I'm so happy that you did, because it encourages me to write faster and update sooner **

**Emma-I see where you're coming from…I know that my first few chapters were worse than the future ones, but I'm glad that you read on and read the better ones **

**Anyway, thank you all for reviewing, and on with the show!**

**Chapter Twenty-Five- New Responsibilities **

Rachel's Pov

"Mmph," I groaned, "Ahhh." I opened my eyes and looked at the sky, and then that was blocked by faces.

"You're alive!"

"We're alive!"

"We were amazing!"

"It's over!"

I heard all of these voices at the same time, and they kept on babbling on and on and on…it was seriously starting to give me a headache, which reminded me that I was stiff and sore.

"Guys!" I said sternly over the noise. The Pevensies were quiet, "Thank you. Now help me stand up."

Pete took one arm and Ed took the other and the pulled me to my feet, "Jeesh," I grumbled, rubbing my arms, "remember I'm a girl: we're meant to be delicate, gentle creatures."

"Well…" Ed started, "you aren't particularly delicate."

"Or gentle," Pete continued.

"Or a-"

"Watch it Pevensie," I warned playfully with a smile. These two boys and myself seemed to be having more sarcastic and playful moments like this. I looked around me and saw Deimos' still body, which was oozing-black blood?-from various points in his body. Black blood…incredibly strange, and incredibly disgusting to look at.

"Is he-?"

"Yes, I don't think he could have survived that," Su stated. I smiled to myself, but a question popped up in my mind.

"What happened during the battle?"

"Well…Aslan came back to life miraculously." Ed said.

"We were there!" Lucy piped up, pointing to herself and Su.

"And he killed the Witch and…" they explained everything that was left to fill in.

"And what happened to you?" Pete asked, "I watched you die….right in front of my eyes," he finished, slightly sadly. We had all started walking back towards the canyon.

"Well I went back to the Twenty-First century-as you do when you die," I added, to make them laugh slightly, "and it turns out I was in a coma. I thought that Narnia was all a dream because of that. My aunt and uncle super sad that I was dead; I mean, who could miss this beautiful face? And then when I was allowed out of hospital, I went to my grandmother's house and she told me that Narnia was real, and if I smashed a small vase she gave me, I would come back to Narnia, and it turns out she was born in the nineteenth century," I looked at their faces, which held expressions of shock, "I know, it's almost impossible for that to happen, but don't ask, it's _very _complicated. I smashed the vase after some consideration, and **boom! **Came back here to," my face distorted into one of disgust as I glanced up and down their bodies, "you guys."

I laughed slightly through my 'ow's' and 'that hurt!'s' while they shoved me from one sibling to the other, "Alright, alright! I've had enough bruises for one day…and I died!" I playfully punched the Pevensie closest to me, which was Pete.

"Hey!" he said in surprise, "that hurt!"

"Well then I hope you die from internal bleeding," I retorted quickly.

"That's not very nice!" Lucy said.

"Sozzles Lu, but he deserved it."

"Sozzles?" Su asked.

"Slang for 'sorry.' I forgot you guys don't understand Twenty-First century language…I also say sozzleburgers as well," they all looked at me strangely, "yeah...I'm _pretty_ normal," I told them, pronouncing every letter of 'pretty.'

"Uh huh," Ed mumbled.

I slapped his arm, "You're not supposed to agree!"

"Sozzleburgers," he replied. We all laughed lightly.

We entered the small canyon that Pete had led the army into not even half a day ago, and Aslan, Orieus and Ronny were just coming towards us. We all stood there motionless for a moment, before moving towards each other. I ran forward and hugged Ronny, "You are such a stupid bird you know that?"

"Yes I do mistress. And do not call me a bird, it is insulting to my species," I just laughed. I pulled away and saw Oreo.

"Yeah…"

"Umm…."

"Well done. For, you know, staying alive."

"Something that you didn't manage to do soldier!"

"You can hardly talk! These guys," I said, using my thumb to point at the Pevensies behind me, "told me that_ you_ got turned into stone." I heard him mutter things under his breath and I let a smile cross my face.

"Let's just do what we have to do and move on," the centaur said to me. We went to hug each other, but then pulled away just before we could get our arms close to each other.

"Here," I said to him, holding my hand out to him, "Congratulations, on you know…not dying," he looked at my hand and wondered what to do with it, "oh, you shake it." He reached out and shook my hand firmly.

"To the future."

"To the future," I replied.

I looked over at Aslan and kneeled down in front of him, out of respect, and I also wanted to talk to him quietly.

"Come, Guardian," he said before walking away from us. I followed him and we were about ten metres away from the rest of the group, "your mind is troubled. What do want to ask me?"

"I just want to know why you abandoned us when we were in danger."

"I did not abandon you: I merely trusted you."

"You-you what?"

"I trusted you. I knew that I had awakened the sleeping magic within you and the Pevensie siblings, and I also knew that you would be able to defeat him."

I nodded my head, knowing that I had found out all that I wanted to. I was about to turn away before I thought of one more question, "Why couldn't I release my magic like the Pevensies did? Why was I last and why did the other Guardians have to help me?"

"You see, the Guardians are peace-loving beings, and they all wanted to end this war. But they couldn't decide on who would be them one to destroy the last enemy, so while they were debating, the magic that the Pevensies had built up was released, and yours was not because of the battle inside you. Your mother finally got them to settle down by letting them all be present during the last attack, and when that happened you shot into the air, because you had charged up so much magic and the debate inside you was resolved: that's what made you use your magic. So, in other words, because of the battle inside you, it stopped your magic from working."

"Did the battle inside me cause the pain I felt?"

Aslan lowered his head slightly, "Yes."

"Well, what's good is that I'm alright," _'Just about' _I thought to myself, "and the war is over. We won! Narnia is safe…" I stood there for a moment before turning away from the Great Lion, "I'd better get back to these guys. We've gotta start celebrating!" I took off towards the siblings, leaving Aslan behind.

"_They'll need you Rachel…something they won't realize until they don't have you anymore…"_ The lion thought to himself.

"Hey guys!" I shouted over to them, "wanna party it up Twenty-First century style?"

They all cheered and I started to teach them the Macarena. It took them a while at first, but they picked it up quickly, "Eh Macarena!" I called out at the end. We were all smiling, and I looked over at Oreo and Ronny. Ronny was covering his beak with his wing and Oreo was pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. I just laughed at their expressions.

"Dame Lustor, Dame Lustor!" I heard someone call. I turned around and saw a faun coming towards me with a bundle in his arms.

"Mr Tumnus!" Lucy called.

He was now in front of us and bowed, "Your majesties."

I groaned, "Don't call me that. I'm just Rachel-plain Rachel thanks."

"As you wish," he replied, almost bowing again, "anyway, we were patrolling the area and we found these things," he placed them into my arms and I gently put them on the ground. There was a bundle of fabric and five stones. The five stones were the same colours as our magic, so we automatically took our designated coloured stones. I lifted the white stone, and I felt something enter my mind.

"This is the result of dark and light powers combining. The Guardians and I will always be with you, but this is a physical representation of us. A part of our power and yours has been locked within this stone, and I'll always be here for you, to talk to, like any other mother would. But remember, just because this stone is white, does not mean that it is pure…darkness lies within…but I want you to know this always: I love you so very much." My mother told me as her image appeared within the stone. I smiled at her, although I was slightly confused about the 'white-isn't- pure-darkness-within' part.' I just let it slide.

The Pevensies were looking at their stones in awe, and I picked up the pile of fabric. They looked familiar…

"My clothes!" I exclaimed in happiness. The pile of fabric had actually been my clothes from the Twenty-First century. I felt something heavy in the pocket of my jeans, so I shook them upside down and out came-

"My IPod!" I said in the same tone as I had before, clutching it to my chest, "this is epic!" I started playing it, but then Aslan did something to it, and instead of being an old IPod that couldn't play music without the earphones in, it was more like an IPod touch, that could play music out loud without the help of earphones. I played some really cheesy music from the Twenty-First century and taught them the moves.

No-one bothered to look back at the battlefield.

Therefore no one noticed that Deimos' body was gone.

* * *

We journeyed back to the camp after doing the Cha Cha Slide and the Macarena a couple of times. Juel and Seb had joined in as well, but Juel still wasn't very steady on her legs, so she fell a couple of times. They both had a few bruises and cuts, but were otherwise fine. After Ed and I had left the archery regiment, they both took over, and did a fantastic job as well. Apparently they had been able to heal a couple of the wounded soldiers with their own magic, and Aslan was very pleased with them. After the battle they had told me about some tricks they wanted me to learn with my own magic, including changing my hair, eye colour and how to erase someone's memory from the past few seconds of their lives. That was going to be very interesting.

Just before we left Beruna some of the fauns and satyrs offered to take some of our armour with them. I took my shoulder pads, bracers, tunic and top part of my chainmail off. It was quickly replaced by a white shirt with puff sleeve and a 'U' shaped neckline. It wasn't low thankfully. Pete and Ed had done the same, but they had long sleeves. They looked quite pirate-y actually.

Tia had survived the battle, just the large wound in her leg was a reason to worry. She couldn't take me back to the camp on her back due to that, so back at the battlefield arrangements for us had been made. But she did tell me that my old sparring partner Zahor and a couple of other people who I had come to know had died as well. I felt upset about this, but I brightened up a little bit when she told me that about sixty-five to seventy percent of the army was alive. Anyway, back to what forms of transport we were taking to get back to the camp.

Su and Lu had been fine just walking, mainly because Lu wanted to talk to Mr Tumnus and Su wanted to keep an eye on her sister. There was one horse left between Ed, Pete and I, so I let the boys take the horse. The whole thing ended up in an argument over who should take it, so we finally decided that we should take turns.

We were about half way there and I was exhausted. I had started to get tired a little while into the journey back, and that stunt with the magic didn't help. Right now, I wanted to kick fatigue where it hurt. Ed was quite far ahead of us, because he wanted to talk to Oreo, and Pete was on the horse now. He looked over at me, and I couldn't blame him for saying what he did. I looked a mess! My eyes were drooping, I was slouching and I was practically dragging my feet along the ground.

"Rach, you really should take my turn."

"Nah, it's your turn, I'm" I yawned at the worst possible time, "not tired at all."

"Come on, I don't mind walking."

"No seriously," I said during a yawn.

He sighed, "How does this sound: We'll both go on the horse but I'll stay at the front and you can relax at the back," he shrugged his shoulders. I saw that the sun was getting quite low in the sky and the moon was staring to come into view. Due to the fact that I would have fallen down on the ground and gone to sleep there, I nodded and mounted the horse. I mentally panicked about how I was going to stay on, but I was so tired that I threw my pride away and wrapped my arms around his waist and put my chin on his shoulder. He was really warm and his back was well-muscled…

"_What are you thinking Rachel!" _my conscience yelled at me

"Sorry…I think about weird things when I wanna go to sleep…" I mumbled aloud.

"Hmm? Did you say something Rach?" Pete asked me. But I was already half asleep. I fell asleep to the rhythm of the steady rise and fall of his body when he breathed.

* * *

Sunlight hit my face and woke me up. I groaned and rolled over on my side, only to discover that I was lying in my bed back at the camp.

"Wow…I wonder how they got me here?" I thought to myself as I pulled the covers over my head again.

I felt something come in contact with my head, "Rachel, Rachel! It's time to get up, and we have a really big day ahead of us!"

I reluctantly pushed the covers away from my head and rubbed my eyes, "Lucy, it's too early to get up…let me sleep," the last part was slightly muffled because I had already pulled the covers over my head again.

"But…Rachel, it's past lunchtime."

My upper body shot straight up, "What?"

"It's the afternoon. You slept through lunch."

"And breakfast? You have got to be joking me."

She just shook her head, "No," she said quietly.

I got out of bed incredibly quickly, well, almost falling out of it because my foot had become tangled in one of the sheets. This made Lucy laugh, but I didn't shoot her a glance back or laugh with her…I just rushed around looking for clothes to wear.

I went to the bathroom, hoping to have a quick shower, until I discovered that I stank of sweat and dirt, and some blood covered my body. And then it dawned on me: I had been sleeping in the same clothes that I had worn when I came back from the battle yesterday. After rubbing my skin raw and making it the most attractive shade of redish-pink (sarcasm), I got out of the bath, dried off quickly and put my plain light green dress on, I shoved my hair up in a ponytail and sprinted towards the dining tent.

But while I was running, I felt really stiff and sore, undoubtedly from yesterday's events. I entered the tent just as the kitchen staff were clearing up. Fortunately, there were some leftovers, which I scarfed down immediately. There was only one word to describe what I felt right now: famished. I ate that food as if someone was going to take it off me, and before long I had eaten it all. I swear I eat like a guy and it was starting to show, but it was healthy fat, or so I told myself.

I found Lu a little while after I had left the tent, and she grabbed my arm and started to drag me. I just let her, and the only words I heard were "…now…battle…Witch…carriages…Susan…thrones!"

We both entered Aslan's tent, and Pete, Su, Edmund, Aslan and a few old dudes were standing in it. I looked around at everybody and pointed at the old dudes and before I could speak, Aslan started to talk to everyone.

"The members of the newly resurrected Council of Narnia and the Chosen Ones, it is my great honour to be within your presence this day. This is the first day that Narnia has been free from the One Hundred Year Winter, and in a few days, we will enter a glorious new age, ruled by these Daughters of Eve and Sons of Adam."

An old badger with glasses spoke up, "And that is what we wish to speak with you about Aslan," he sounded English, but he sounded stuck up and pompous. Plus, the way that he sounded like he had some sort of nasal problem didn't help either, "Cair Paravel is the castle of four thrones, not five. We cannot allow another throne to be placed in the Narnian's beloved structure."

"Ah, but what if the fifth throne highlighted the High King's superiority? That would make him look even more powerful than his co-rulers. And it does not have to be built into the structure-it can be moved around as needed."

A small sound of agreement went around some members of the so called 'council', "But there can not be three queens and two kings. The Narnians would think that we would prefer queens to kings."

"That is where you are wrong, dear Blinddug, for there will not be three queens: there will be as the prophesy states."

"Then what of this one?" Blinddug asked, pointing at me. If Aslan had not been there, I would have defended myself, but he seemed to have it all planned out.

"She will become Princess of Narnia, and that is only because she has fought on the right-hand side of our future High King during the battle, done all she can to ensure their safety, helped defeat the last standing soldier of the Witch's army and quite a bit more. She is not entitled by blood, but because she needs and deserves to have this title. Would you rather that she ran off and left our kings and queens unprotected?" he looked over at me and said quieter than he had before, "she needs it for her duties to the people in the future." He sent me this weird look that obviously meant something, something important, but he just turned his face away from me, "Do you refuse my proposition?"

"Well…it's just that…maybe if she was crowned…the Narnians…"

"Would be very happy and would not go against what I have said?" Aslan added, tilting his head slightly. I laughed to myself quietly about this: nobody could refuse Aslan, mainly because he was their creator, and he could swallow them whole (not that he would though).

The members of the council seemed to agree with this, and even Blinddug, who looked as if he would retaliate, reluctantly agreed.

"We must make haste! For the palace must be ready for the coronation in less than a week!" One of the members, a centaur said. They quickly left the tent, leaving me slightly confused.

"Rachel, you are to become a princess and become a ruler alongside your friends," the Pevensies smiled at me, but Lucy's was obviously the biggest. She hugged me, and I grinned down on her and stroked her red-brown hair. I had a funny feeling that we had done exactly the same thing a little while ago.

"Cair Paravel had been uninhabited for a century, and now the Narnians are helping to restore it to its former glory. You are the ones that need to make them proud and happy, and you are the ones that need to rule over them fairly, gain their trust and fight off intruders. You must do everything in your power to help Narnia become the great country that it once was. And you all have your duties in order to do that. Lucy, I must talk with you first and privately." We all exited the tent and sat quite far away from it until it was our turn.

After about ten minutes the little girl emerged from behind the flap smiling. She ran over to us, "Edmund! He wants to see you now!" Edmund grew visibly paler, but who could blame him? After that incident with the Witch he had every right to be nervous. He walked slowly over to the tent flap and opened it cautiously.

"What did he tell you to do Lu?" Susan asked.

"Well since I'm the youngest, he didn't want to make me do things that I clearly can't do, like things to do with government. He said that he wants me to 'do what your gifts have enabled you to do.' So I'm in charge of going around Narnia and talking to everyone, making sure that they are happy and safe."

"So like, you're in charge of the peoples' welfare?" I asked.

"Yeah! At least I think I am…what does welfare mean?" I laughed as Susan explained it to her.

Ed came out of the tent a little while later. He had an expressionless look on his face, but as he got closer, you could see that the corners of his mouth were pointing up slightly, "So what has the mighty marshmallow slayer been commanded to do?" I asked him, only to be rewarded with a slap on the head. I pointed to my skull, "Hello? Precious cargo on board?" He just ignored this.

"I've been told that I'm in charge of battle tactics and issues concerning war," he said proudly, "along with a little help from Pete, but not much hopefully," he was rewarded with a small punch on the arm from his brother. Su had already gone towards the tent.

"Oh my gosh! I completely forgot!" Lucy exclaimed.

"What is it?" I asked, thinking that it was something very important.

"Once we've been talked to by Aslan, we have to go and start getting fitted for the coronation!" she said excitedly, "we have to go now!"

Ed groaned as his sister tugged on his arm, "Do we have to?" But Lucy had him on his feet within seconds and dragging him away from Aslan's tent, leaving Pete and I alone. Pete was clenching and unclenching his fists uncontrollably.

"Hey, stop that," I said to him softly, hesitantly, putting one of my hands over his, "if you keep on doing that, they might just stay like that," he gave me a small smile but went back to squeezing the life out of his invisible stress toy. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Honestly, stop it Pete, you're making me more nervous than I already am!"

"Well if your just nervous how do you think I feel then?" he snapped at me. I held my hands up in surrender.

"Whoa, calm down mate!" I said.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, "Sorry, it think I'm just getting all worked up over nothing."

"Well it's not exactly nothing is it? You're going to become the High King, and I think that having power over everybody except Aslan is a pretty big deal."

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "I just don't-" He was cut off by Su yelling over to him about how Aslan wanted to talk with him. He got up and gave me a small smile before walking off. I turned around and looked at Su, "so what about you?"

"I'm going to be the one that plans parties, formal events and just to make others feel welcome. Kind of like a hostess."

I smiled and nodded and Su, although I was really starting to not only worry about Pete, but kind of selfishly, about what Aslan might want me to do. In other words, my mind was elsewhere, "Yeah, that's really good Su."

"I'll see you later Rach," she said as she walked away. I turned my attention back to the tent, and after sitting there for ages and making a huge butt indent in the ground, Pete came out. He didn't come towards me like the others had, but he looked around himself. His movements were very jerky and he looked…kinda scared. I saw his head turn towards me, and then he ran off towards the beach. My legs chose to run after him before my brain had the chance to register what was going on.

"Pete!" I cried, "Pete!"

"He is fine, Guardian, he just needs time for his responsibility to sink in," Aslan said from behind me. I had run past his tent when I was running after Pete and Aslan seemed to know where I was.

I kept my eyes on the horizon, hoping to spot him, "Come Rachel, we have to discuss what role you play in this kingdom. He will be fine."

"Yeah, you're probably right," I said quietly before reluctantly tearing my gaze away from the horizon. We quickly got back to the tent and he started to talk.

"Now Rachel, you must not let anybody now about what I am about to tell you. You must only tell them about what you are going to do for the kingdom. Now, when the time is right, during your reign a letter will appear and what you must do is…"

* * *

My eyes were bulging out of my head after he had told me this, and I was really worried as well because he had told me so much and I had to do everything he had told me to do. When I emerged from the tent, I started walking towards another tent in which my dress for the coronation was to be made. I have to admit, and usually I'm not the kind of girl who would wear dresses and be excited for it, but I was ecstatic about it! Every time I thought about it, I got butterflies in my stomach and felt so light I could float away…but the last time I felt like that it was to defeat a crazy man who could have destroyed Narnia…it's a little bit different from that to be honest (sarcasm alert!).

Because my mind was still buzzing from what Aslan told me, I almost forgot about Pete. I was just about to turn around before what the Lion himself had told me echoed in my mind.

"_He will be fine." _

"He will be fine," I repeated quietly. I rushed off towards the dressmakers before I could change my mind, and I didn't even look back, because I knew if I did, I would run and find Pete.

I entered the tent and saw Su and Lu being measured for their dresses. They were on a sort of pedestal with a mirror to the side of them, and the room was littered with brightly covered fabrics, shiny buttons, sparkling stones and a lot more, "Hello Rachel!" Lucy said cheerfully. I waved over at her before I was taken by a female faun, centaur and a…mouse?

"So Dame Lustor, what do you wish your dress to be like?" The centaur asked.

"Well, um…" I looked over at Su and Lu, "what are you two thinking?"

"Well Su's going to have a lovely green dress with little golden buttons, and I'm going to have a really nice light blue one." Lucy smiled.

"So that rules out those two colours then…" I thought to myself. I shrugged, "What colour do you think would suit me?" I asked them both. They looked at each other for a second.

"Dark blue," Su said.

"Red," Lucy said.

"Oh, I don't know what to pick!" I exclaimed.

"Why don't you have both?" Su said. I raised one eyebrow, "Get two dresses made. One blue and one red, and when the day of the coronation comes, you can choose then.

"Great idea Su!" I smiled at her, "but that's way too much work for these guys…"

"It doesn't matter. We will serve our future rulers," the centaur bowed.

"Alright then," I rummaged through the blue fabrics, and after a while, I came across one that was midnight-blue with silver details all over it, "this one."

"I'll take that from you and we'll get you measured. Whilst I'm getting you measured, these two will pick out shade of red for you." I smiled at the centaur.

The faun rummaged around the fabrics, looking for the right shade of red.

"That one is nice," Lucy said.

"That's what you've said about every shade of red so far!" Su exclaimed.

I looked at the fabric back and forth. It was a really dark red, but I scrunched my nose up, "Nah, not the one I'm looking for." The faun took it off me and the centaur handed me a piece of scarlet fabric. The same happened again. As the centaur was putting something back, the little mouse appeared, "Nesora! Look at this!" she squeaked happily to the faun before diving underneath the pile of fabric. I heard a little bit of movement before she popped her head up again, "Put your hand in where I am!" The faun did as she was told, and when she brought her hand out again a beautifully coloured fabric came out with it.

It was red, but it was more like a copper-red that gave off the same sheen that Lu and Su's gave off. It had darker red designs in it, and when you looked closely, the designs were in fact little intricate flowers and swirls: it made me fall in love with the fabric. I put my hand underneath the fabric, which had a really silky feel to it, and lifted my hand up to the two girls, "Hmm?"

Lucy's face brightened up into a huge smile and Su's lips turned into a grin, "Yes!" They both said together. I smiled at them and then at the fabric that I was running through my fingers.

It was late in the afternoon when I finally left the dressmakers tent, "Okay thank-you!" I called over my shoulder as I was leaving, "Yeah I'll be back here tomorrow. Ten o'clock? That's great! See ya!" My conversation with Nesora had ended and Lu and Su were still in the tent getting their own dresses sorted. I turned away to come face to face with Oreo.

"Soldier, you haven't seen Peter anywhere have you? He's been gone for a long time and his brother is starting to get worried…"

This wasn't like Pete, "Um….no, sorry Oreo. The last time I saw him was when he was coming out of Aslan's tent."

"Thank-you Soldier," he said, galloping off.

"But wait!" I called out to him, but he had already left, "he went towards the beach…" The thought of Pete being missing entered my mind so I decided that I would try and go and find him. I put my hands on my thighs, grabbed some of the material of my dress and ran in the direction of the beach.

I ran for about twenty minutes and I'm telling you: when people say 'feel the burn!'…yeah, they ain't kidding.

I had to stop to get my breath back when I saw a figure sitting on the grass near the beach. I walked towards the figure slowly, just in case it wasn't Pete, but as I got closer I discovered that it was him.

The slight breeze was blowing through his hair and he had one leg up in his chest while the other was outstretched. He was wearing a poofy blue shirt with criss-crossing strings across the neckline and tan-coloured legging-type trousers with brown boots. Rhindon was securely fastened around his waist.

"You know you don't need to keep carrying him around," I said lightly, referring to his weapon. He looked around at me and motioned for me to sit down beside him.

"Force of habit," he replied.

We sat in silence for a little while before I spoke again, "Why did you run off earlier?"

He sighed and dipped his head down into his chest whilst shaking it, "It's just that, everybody seems to be happy about this whole coronation and ruling Narnia except for me," he turned and looked at me, "why is that?"

I filled my cheeks with air and slowly let it out while playing with my hair, "I honestly don't know Pete but…maybe it's because you're the only one of your kind," he looked at me quizzically, "y'know, 'cause you're the only High King, heck, you're the only one with _High_ in their title."

"Well you're the only princess."

"Yet," I said quietly.

"I heard that!" Pete said. He shivered, "for goodness sake, I'm not even a king yet! Marriage is something I can do without for a while."

"Same here!" I said with a laugh.

"But the day after the coronation, it'll be 'roll on the marriage proposals,'" he said quietly.

"Ugh," I fell back on the grass, "having to dance with the most stuck up and annoying people we'll ever meet. Can't wait!" I replied sarcastically. He smiled a little bit.

"You do know that's going to be our lives from now on, don't you?"

"Yeah: courters, corsets, meetings, endless documents, debates and diplomatic affairs…" I flayed my hands around for a little while trying to find the right word, "ew," was all I managed.

"Ew?" he questioned.

"Shut up! It was the only word I could think of," I replied smiling, bumping my shoulder into his a little bit, "besides, I won't be the first one to be eligible to court."

He heard what I said and bumped into me even harder, "Well, I'm not the only one of my kind, remember? Princes galore for you."

"Women that have to get a pneumatic drill to remove their makeup and a crowbar to get them out of their corsets for you." I was about to laugh before I saw the look on his face, "oh, right, you don't know what those are…"

"I can guess, and those women just…ew." We both laughed.

"Everything's going to be different in a few days, isn't it?" I asked Pete.

He nodded his head, "Yes, I suppose it will be."

"Ah well, we'll get used to it," I told him lightly.

"Let me ask you one question though Rach, no wait, two questions."

"Okay, I'm listening."

"The first is: if you didn't have to become a princess and could do anything you wanted to, what would it be?"

I tapped my finger on my chin a few times, "Hmmm…I think I would travel all over Narnia, and then to any other countries in this world. I think that it'd be pretty fun. You?"

"Anywhere with my siblings. We'd probably travel too: Lucy would love to see meet new people and we'd all like to see new countries and I know that Lucy couldn't bear to see you leave without her."

"Lucy's like, my best friend. It would be nearly impossible to leave her, I couldn't do that to her."

"Would you miss the rest of us?"

"Hmmm…well Su definitely, but you and Ed…I might." He shoved me a little bit and I shoved him back, and before long we were rolling down the hill and onto the beach together. I had laughed so much today! When we finished rolling we both sat up again and watched the sun dip low into the sky.

"So what exactly did he tell you to do?" I asked Pete.

"Foreign affairs, government, army, the people…a lot of things actually. You?"

"He told me to watch over you guys, and to be there for you guys to help you with your jobs and to be a friend when you need one, so I'm basically I'm everybody's assistant. I also need to guard you cause, well, it's in the title, 'the _Guard_ian' and tell you to take a break every once in a while!" I nudged him, and he knew that I was talking about him.

"Anything else?"

"Well, just to do what Aslan tells me to, and help Lucy with the Narnian people and foreigners. And also not to be sarcastic to visitors or people I don't like…and to try and be nice to men who want to court me. "

"Hmmm…I don't think that you'd like the courting process, or people that want to court you."

"Hey! I haven't even met them yet! How do you know I won't like them?"

"Because you don't seem to be the kind of girl that would love someone because they're rich or have great social standings, like princes and other people like that. I think you would…follow your heart and love somebody who is your best friend: regardless of what job they do, their background or their past."

"That's really nice Pete," I said softly, "and I wouldn't go for some arrogant rich man who just wants to love me for my title. To be honest, I don't think that I would love, or marry, a prince or something like that. I'd love somebody who understands me the most, and loves me for who I am," I took a deep breath in, "phew that was long. Come on, we'd better head back, it's gonna be dark soon." We both stood up and walked side by side, talking the whole way back to the camp. In no time at all, we had arrived at my tent.

"I'll see you in the morning Pete. Nighty-night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite!" I said through a yawn.

"You know, what you said back at the beach about…courting, I think that it would have to be the same thing for me too."

"Huh?"

"I mean that, the person I'd…love, would have to know the real me, not just King Peter. I'm more than that…I know I'm more than that, and it nobody could tell me otherwise."

I nodded my head, "And it doesn't help that you could have them beheaded either!" I laughed, gently putting my hand on his arm, "you'll be fine Pete, I know you will be." I took my hand off his arm and went into my tent. And that's when the conversation between Aslan and I about what I have to do for the kingdom in the future flooded into my mind. As it did, my eyes started watering.

"Why Aslan, why? Why do you want me to do these tasks?" I thought sadly.

"Why do you have to tear me away?"

**A/N I know that Rachel sounds a little bit like a spoilt brat having two dresses instead of just one…but all will become clear in the next few chapters. Oh, and about the stone she has found: the Pevensies ones are normal stones (for the time being) and Rachel's stone contains some of the Guardian's magic and her own, but something else as well…he he he…she can also use it to communicate with her mother. Okay? Good. I'll see you guys in a week! Reviews are very much appreciated.**

**Xx Elemental Angel xX**


	27. Chapter 26 Cair Paravel

**A/N Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated in like, ever, but I've been away bla bla bla…but this is the penultimate chapter in Two Kings, Two Queens and a Guardian. *sniffs* never thought I'd get this far to tell you the truth, but the big speech is reserved for the last chapter. But please, review while you still can, and let's get this story over the two hundred mark! Yes, we're THAT close! So anyways, on to the reviews!**

**Princess of Narnia 1192-I has written more! As you can see obviously…hey, that rhymed!**

**I love your story-Awesome name btw! You never know…hehehe.**

**Immortalis79-Yay! You're back! I was wondering where you'd gone…I thought that you had stopped reading this story! *sob* but it's all good now, right! And thanks for reviewing again! And I probably will comb back through it again…help me point out some mistakes please? Thankies! And yes, Ronny does love cake. A LOT.**

**IwannabeAnnabeth-Really? Only the second time? Outrageous! Lol. Really? You think I'm awesome? I'm not really but thank-you!**

**Anyways, on with the show! (boy, I'm gonna miss that)**

**Chapter Twenty-Six-Cair Paravel **

The next few days flew by. The Pevensie girls and I had gotten our dresses sorted: designs, shoes and capes. Yes, capes! The girls and I had been discussing with some members of the camp on how the coronation was going to run, and it was going to be beautiful! We were going to arrive at Cair Paravel in horse drawn carriages, and it would go in this order: Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Pete. They would arrive a couple of minutes before I did, because the committee wanted the Pevensies crowned first so that they would get all the attention, which made me feel slightly inferior (which I was!) I would go up after Pete had been crowned.

My throne had been put into Cair, next to Ed's because, like Aslan said, the council wanted Pete's authority to be shown for he would be in the middle. The crowns had been made as well, but the details had yet to be added. Wow, I'm only realizing now that I sounded slightly cocky.

At the present moment, I was getting some final alterations made to my dresses: the coronation was tomorrow and I still haven't decided which one to wear! I felt so greedy though…but I have to admit, the dresses were beautiful. My small curves were made a little more visible than usual, but Lucy and I were practically as flat as boys so let's just say nothing could really help us there!

The design of my mark was going to be stitched onto the bodice of my red dress, so I was really happy about that, but the blue dress was just going to be plain. I think I'm going to wear the blue one because even though the other one had my mark stitched onto it, I was starting to like the blue one more. But lately I've noticed that my mark hasn't been glowing lately, which is weird…oh I remember! Aslan told me that it won't glow anymore because of the necklace he had made me. You know the one where he took the two charms and made it into one and my magic comes from it? Yeah, that one.

Oh, and we have to each have to make a speech to the country, just a short one, but a speech nonetheless. That's going to be pretty fun for somebody who has stage fright…yeah, I've got it. I'm planning on letting the Pevensies do theirs and then sneak away. Besides, their Kings and Queens are giving speeches and all the attention will be on them: nobody wants to listen to the princess.

But Oreo and Susan are forcing me to do one, and they've gone so far that I've been grounded from going outside until it's done; Oreo is outside the tent right now. But every time put quill to parchment, I think it's incredibly bad and end up scrunching it up into a ball. Right now, my temper was about to get the better of me, and I going to scream! I was just about to release my frustration, before something caught my eye. Something was glinting in the corner of my room and when I went to investigate.

I went over to it and saw that it was the golden lion on my sword. I went to turn away from it, but my brain didn't allow me. I just stared at it for a while and then went back to my desk. But the gold kept on winking at me. "Gold…" I said quietly, "Gold." I said again, a little bit louder, "Gold!" I shouted joyfully, finally finding something to do my speech on.

I came out my tent, chuffed to bits about finishing my speech. I walked towards Oreo, went past him and before he could say anything, I put the parchment into his hand and smiled to myself as I walked on, not even looking back at him. I came towards Seb and Juel's tent and as I was about to go in, I bumped into Lucy.

"Oh! Sorry Lu!"

"Its okay Rachie," she replied with her signature smile on her face, "we were just coming to see you actually."

"Really? What about?"

"Well, Su, Pete, Ed, Seb, Juel and I were going to go to Cair Paravel to see it before the coronation. Would you like to come with us? I really want to go there…it looks really pretty!"

I laughed at her immaturity, "Of course I'll come with you! It'll be so much fun!" I replied, mirroring her immaturity.

"Orieus and Iron Feather are going to come with us, just in case," she put her hand to the side of her face, so that she was only talking to me, "the guards are getting really protective of us. Ed and Pete hate it!"

"I'm not surprised! After Pete ran away last night and Ed almost dying a few days ago, it's to be expected," I shrugged my shoulders, "so when are we going?"

"Well, we were thinking about now…but we can wait a while if you aren't ready."

I looked down at the pink off-the-shoulder dress I was wearing, "Yeah, maybe I should. I'll be five minutes and I'll meet you guys over at the stables!" I ran off to my tent, pulled off my dress and flimsy shoes, shoved on a white Port Royale shirt, blue leggings and black boots that went halfway up my shins.

I sprinted over to the stables and mounted Tia in record time, "Why-am-I-always…running-when I'm around-you guys?" I said, in-between breaths and gasps. Lucy and everybody else had mounted, and Pete and Ed seemed to be having a race to see who had the fastest horse or something. I rolled my eyes at that and Tia trotted out of her stable. I caught up with Seb and the other girls, and I slotted in-between Seb and Juel. It went in this order from left to right: Seb, myself, Juel, Lucy and Su. Phew, that was long. All the way to Cair we talked about the coronation like it was prom or something. Pete and the other boys just gave us weird looks.

We arrived at Cair and, wow, it was absolutely breath-taking: at least one hundred-no, two hundred times better than the Disney Land one. It was made out of white stone and carved into the cliffside, and it was simply magnificent. Turrets that held the most beautiful views around them, dungeons with so much mystery within them and marble corridors that contained incredible amounts of history awaited us. Words couldn't describe Cair Paravel, and I couldn't believe that it was to become my-our future home.

"This way Rachel," Ronny told me as we approached a gate that was connected to a thick white wall. It was made out of oak and it was huge! It had iron vines and flowers crawling all over it. When it opened, a paved courtyard met my eyes. It was surrounded by the large wall that was connected to the gate, and the ground was mainly made up of white stones, although it had soft pastel coloured ones that made up circles on the ground. The ground was warm from the sun, and I could feel that through my boots. But in the centre was a fountain, and the statue in the middle was Aslan, which was made out of bronze. I don't know how this castle survived snow and ice for one hundred years, but I'm now complaining: the clean-up crew must have been incredibly busy these last few days.

On the other side of the courtyard was a large, white building (the front of Cair) with a door on the front of it. It was quite big and before you could get to the door, there were pillars in front of it. Even if it was a lot better than it, it looked a lot like the front of Buckingham Palace, but better of course. The door was large and wooden with glass put into the top of it.

Oreo went first, and the huge foyer was revealed to us. The floor was made of a golden sort of marble, and the walls were the same. Paintings covered the walls and freshly cut flowers that had been placed on top of desks and four-foot high white plant stands filled the foyer with a beautiful scent. The foyer was oval-almost circle-shaped, and in the middle of the floor was a picture of Aslan's face in darker marble. No stairs were present and at the other side of the oval shaped foyer there was a long, square-shaped corridor which ended with yet another, smaller, wooden door. Even from where I was standing I could tell that it was ajar.

"Come, but we must avoid that door. It is the door to the Great Hall, and you must not look inside it until the coronation. Direct orders from the planners," Ronny said.

"I want to see my new room!" Lucy said, scampering on ahead.

"Wait your majesty! You do not know where you are going!" Oreo shouted after her as she skipped along the corridor, "I'd better go and get her." He said as he trotted towards her.

Oreo caught up with Lucy and took us around a series of corridors. Most of the corridors had both sides made out of marble, but a few had glass in them: a few didn't have anything! I was walking down one of the corridors, and I looked to my left and saw some pillars on that side. But I could see that in between the gaps of the pillars that a courtyard lay in front of them. It was square-shaped and had a fountain in the middle, and the other three corners of it were corridors the exact same as this one. It was an oasis of land in a desert of marble.

"Yep, I'm definitely going to come here a lot!" I smiled to myself. After coming down one more corridor, and up a of stairs (the fancy ones that have stairs that are wide at the bottom and narrow at the top), our feet touched rich, red-coloured carpet.

"This is the corridor in which your sleeping arrangements have been made," he pointed to a room with a pale green door, "Lucy, this is your room." I don't think that he noticed the small plaque that said _'Lucy,_' in curling letters on it. Lucy gasped and then smiled. He moved to one with a strong red colour, "Edmund this will be yours." The plaque said **Edmund **in bold, strong letters.

"Susan," he pointed to a light blue door. The curling letters that had been used on Lucy's door had been used on hers, "and Peter," he said once again, pointing to a door with a strong yellow-gold colour and **Peter **written on the plaque.

"What about Rachie?" Lucy said, with just a hint of worry in her voice.

"Oh, yes, _Rachie's_ room is just over here," he said with a smile. I gave him an annoyed one back, before rolling my eyes and looking at my nails. He pointed towards a white door on the other side of the corridor, slap bang in the middle of it. I didn't believe that it was mine, even when I touched the sign that read, "_Rachel,"_ in the same writing that had been used for Su's and Lu's.

"It's really mine?" I asked Orieus. He nodded his head. I squealed with delight and opened my door at the same time the Pevensies did. I gasped in awe of it.

There was a high white ceiling with designs all over it and red walls with curling vines and beautiful flowers painted in gold. There was white carpet on the floor, and I had no idea how I was going to keep it clean. As soon as I walked in, I noticed there was a wall that jutted out quite a bit. I didn't know what it was at first, but then I saw a door on the side of it.

"The bathroom," I thought to myself.

A desk with a chair made out of ash wood stood against the left wall, with an inkwell and a quill, with shelves made out of ash wood with books on them beside it. A small dresser stood against the right wall with a huge ash wardrobe beside it. If I looked to the back wall, I saw two open glass doors, with silk curtains blowing gently in the breeze in front of them, on the right and left sides of a wall in the middle.

"A balcony!" I whispered, whilst rejoicing in my head. But, when I came into the room, the first thing I saw was a four poster, crystal white bed with a white canopy and silk drapes tied to the posts. It was against the wall in the middle and in between the two glass doors of the balcony.

I was literally glued to the spot, as where the Pevensies. I looked over my shoulder and dropped my jaw whilst doing a thumbs up sign towards Oreo.

"Hey Pevensies!" I shouted over to them. They looked around at me and a slow smile took over my face, "bet you I can wreck my bed first!" I challenged them, before sprinting towards my new bed. As I ran towards the end of it, I noticed that there were no obstacles at the end of the bed, so I ran even faster, knowing that I wouldn't hurt myself, and sprung in to the air. I landed on the soft, cushiony bed and bounced up and down a few times before stopping, laughing all the while. I heard the Pevensies laughing as well, so I knew that they had done the same thing: even Su!

"Oh, I wish we didn't have to leave…" Lucy mumbled.

"I know! But after we messed up our beds and almost broke that vase-" everybody turned around on their horses to look at me, "okay, okay, I am a bit of a klutz," I admitted, putting two hands up in surrender, "but it wouldn't have happened if-oh no!" I had forgotten that I had taken my hands off Tia's mane, which when riding bare-back, was the only thing that I could hold on to and keep my body on Tia's back. I lost my balance, fell off Tia's back and into a big muddy puddle near the stables. I had landed on my front which had made it even worse. I got up out of the mud with my eyes clenched shut, wiped away some of the mud from my eyes so that I could see and shook my hands to get it off. I placed my hands on my hips and looked at the muddy patch.

"You know, that wouldn't have happened if you hadn't brought up the story about the vase," I pointed at Oreo, who was smiling, but trying to compress his laughter at the same time. This was just the thing that made everybody's restraint on their laughter dissolve away, and the comment wasn't even funny! I looked around at everybody, and all the boys were roaring with laughter, whilst Su and Lu were trying to be a bit more polite and hiding their smiles behind their hands. I noticed that one particular boy had his unicorn next to the muddy patch. I smiled to myself and walked over to him.

"Pete, you look like you could use a bath," I told him, my voice sounding genuinely concerned.

"Really?" he answered through his laughter, not paying attention to what I was saying.

"Yeah," a smile played with my lips, "a mud bath!" I pushed him off his horse and into the mud, and he too landed facedown in the brown substance. Everybody gasped as he got up and shook some of the mud off himself.

"You know, I really don't think that you would one to 'play dirty,'" he said, quoting something that I had said an age ago. Well, a few days ago, but details are boring. He wrapped his arms around my waist and dragged me back into the dirty brown stuff.

"No!" I screamed as he plopped me down into the mud. I was just about o get up before another hand pushed me down, "oh Eddie you are so gonna get it!" I grabbed his foot made made him fall face in the sticky brown mud. We chucked the stuff at each other, and Lu, Su and everybody else were just looking at us in, well, the only words to describe it was shock and horror.

* * *

"Oh c'mon Oreo, it was just a little fun!" I whined.

"Throwing mud at kings and enjoying it is something that most people would frown upon," he replied coldly, "and I am one of those people."

"They're not kings yet, and we're hardly gonna get any time to have fun after the coronation!" I exclaimed.

"You will: you will get one day off a week and there will be a lot of holidays, so stop whining."

"That is no way to talk to a princess," I retorted.

"You're not a princess yet, and when you are, I'll still talk to you that way, because I will be one of your advisors."

"How?"

"Well you do have to help the Pevensies with their jobs, and both of the kings jobs are to command the army and plan war tactics, which I happen to be an expert on. And your job is to help the kings and queens in their duties, isn't it?" He smiled as he asked the rhetorical question.

"Noooooooooo!" I yelled out loud and then looked back at Orieus' stony expression, "kay," I was defeated.

"And you do know that you will be in command of your own army regiment."

"What!" I chocked out. Oreo just laughed at me while I just stood in shock.

"Rachie, Rachie!" Lucy called. I turned around to see her coming towards me.

"Heya Luc!"

"Since it's the last night before the coronation, Su and I wanted to know if you wanted to sleep in our tent and have another sleepover. It would be so much fun!"

Who could say no to her! "Lucy, I would love to! But we do need some sleep 'cause of the coronation."

"Of course! How couldn't forget about _that_. Oh, and the dressmakers are going to leave your dress in our tent tonight so you can get into it quickly in the morning."

"Okay then! I think I'll wear the blue one…oh Luc, I can't wait!"

"Neither can I!" she exclaimed.

I got my dress from the dressmakers and carefully hung it in Lu's wardrobe. The sleepover was the best thing ever! We did everything we could possibly do at one, y'know, truth or dare, secrets, things we wanna do when we're older (well, it was kinda obvious since we were going to be rulers of a country, isn't it?), get high on sugar… it was so much fun!

The next morning I woke up and saw that Lu and Su had gone. I started panicking, thinking I had overslept, and the next thing I knew, I was running towards the tent where I was going to get my make-up and hair done in. I ran and ran, but then my dress got caught on something sharp and made me trip. I fell onto a muddy patch of grass, and then I surveyed the damage. The bottom of it was frayed, and a large split that went halfway up my leg was at the back. The mud had stained the front of it and so had the grass.

"Ahhhhh!" I screamed, causing some birds to fly from the trees. Then one of them decided that nature was calling and pooped on my head.

"Rachie what's-oh my goodness, what happened to you?" Lucy exclaimed.

"I-I don't know! My dress got caught, and then I fell over- and then a bird pooped on me-and now my dress is ruined!" I wasn't about to cry, but I could feel my stress levels going up.

"Calm down Rachie, you'll be fine!"

"Fine? FINE? How will I be fine when my dress is ruined?" I almost shouted.

"You have another dress, don't you?" she said quietly.

I felt my eyes widen and a small smile come across my face, "Luc, did anybody ever tell you that you're a genius?" I hugged the small girl.

"You had better hurry though, my hair is almost done and the coronation starts in an hour!"

"Will do Luc!" I said to her before picking up my skirts and sprinting towards the dressmakers tent. I burst straight into it and thankfully, they were sitting there and deciding on what they should wear for the coronation, "Ladies, it's go time."

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" I chanted. The dressmakers had to sew a little bit more onto the dress, and I was getting a little bit impatient. Fortunately, I had been able to have a shower and wash all the poop out of my hair, so that the hair and make-up teams could start on me. At the minute, my wild curls had been straightened and the bottom layer was starting to be curled in a more elegant fashion that usual and I was wearing my undergarments and dressing gown. Su and Lu were practically done, and we were due at the coronation in ten minutes! But Aslan had been able to push forward the starting time a little bit, so that relieved me slightly. I got that feeling in my stomach that made me have butterflies and cramps at the same time. I felt sick! Su was starting to show signs of worry as well, and then Pete and Ed came to the tent flap.

"Are you girls ready?" Pete asked.

"We are, but Rachie isn't," Lucy answered.

"Go without me! I'll try and be on time!" I shouted towards them.

"We have to go," I heard Ed say.

"Listen, Rach, we'll try and delay Aslan as long as possible before we get crowned," Pete said.

"But it's already been delayed for twenty minutes!" I replied.

"The Narnians can wait," Ed said, "after one hundred years of it, they're probably experts."

They were almost done curling my hair and taking my top layer of hair back into a slightly messy bun, to save time, "Okay guys. I'll be there as soon as possible."

"Good luck Rachie," Lucy said as she left.]

"You too Lu, Su. Please don't fall when you're walking up the aisle," I added light-heartedly making them laugh. It wasn't very funny, but I guess that we were all nervous and had to laugh a little to relieve the nerves. And then they were gone, going to their carriages and ready to be crowned. Moving on in their lives, and although I would be there with them, I couldn't be with them always, and I knew that. They'll leave me behind but…I knew that it would be alright in the end, no matter how hard it would be on myself and them.

I knew that because I was 'princess' and not 'queen,' people wouldn't treat me like they treated them. They will always be higher than me: always! I'd always be the one that wasn't as important as them, but I knew why I was getting my title, and I knew what I had to do with it. Aslan had told me, and I knew what would happen in the future. My people came first, and I knew this even before my coronation. The welfare of my future country was too important.

Aslan had shown me a part of my future. And it was going to be a bumpy ride.

**A/N Just getting all set up for the sequel in these chapters, so I apologise if anyone's getting confused. Oh, and I have started the last chapter BUT! But but but but but! I'm heading off on holiday tomorrow, so no updates for two weeks! I'm really sorry about that! Anyways, please review!**

**Xx Elemental Angel xX**


	28. Chapter 27 The Coronation

**A/N Wow…we have reached the end of this story…wow. A few months ago, I couldn't have imagined that we would be here at the end, so I want to thank everyone who has ever reviewed this story, ever favourite and alerted this story. You guys are the best! You have given me overwhelming support, and without you, I wouldn't have finished this story. Thank-you! Okay so here we go:**

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**For the last time on this story, on with the show!**

**Chapter Twenty-Seven-The Coronation**

Ten minutes had passed since the Pevensies had left, and my hair and make-up were finished. The last thing they did was take two locks of hair, put a Narnian style clip near the top of them, braid them and fasten the end of them to the elegant, yet messy bun at the back of my head (A/N They're kinda like Katara's hair loopies from Avatar: The Last Airbender) I was getting into my dress quite quickly, and it's surprising that I didn't rip it in the process. The final button had been pushed in, and I was hitching up my skirts and running towards where the carriages were supposed to collect us from. We all had two horses on our, and I had requested that Tia would be one of the horses pulling it.

"I'm late, I know I am!" I thought to myself. The carriage driver (a faun) was waiting for me.

"Dame Lustor, you're late!" he cried.

"Yeah I know, c'mon Tia!" I said quickly, unlatching Tia from the carriage, "stuff the carriage, let's ride!" I climbed up on her back (yes, in a full dress) which was no easy feat, but I finally got up and she started galloping towards Cair Paravel.

"I hope I'm not too late," I thought to myself, "Come on Tia, come on girl!" I shouted. She got faster and faster, and it was a wonder that my hair didn't get all messed up. It was probably because of all of that sticky water stuff that they had sprayed on my hair.

DONGGG! DONGGG! A loud noise came from Cair, which was now getting bigger and bigger the closer I came to it. It was a bell that signalled the beginning of the coronation.

"Oh crap!" I thought to myself, "they've started going down the aisle! The Pevensies are going to be crowned in a minute!" I had been riding for about ten minutes, and it usually took less than twenty to get there, so I was more than halfway there, and at the rate Tia was going, I would either be a little bit late, or I could be a lot late.

"Come on Tia, we can do this," I said determinedly. I could hear her panting, and I knew that if she went any faster, she could hurt herself. But she did go faster, and miraculously didn't hurt herself, "Tia, you're the best horse ever!" I mentally cheered.

"_To the glistening eastern sea, I give you Queen Lucy, the Valiant."_ Aslan said within Cair's Great Hall.

"Just a little more Tia, and I wont be late!"

"_To the great western wood, I give you King Edmund, the Just."_

I sighed with relief as I saw the open gate to the courtyard of Cair, "Nearly there!" I thought to myself, almost breaking out in a cold sweat over the fact that I would have to walk down the aisle to join the Pevensies. We entered the courtyard and I dismounted Tia.

"_To the radiant southern sun, I give you Queen Susan, the Gentle."_

I ran in through the front door and was met by looks of confusion. I checked my hair in a nearby mirror for literally two seconds, and unbelievably it was more or less fine except for a few stray hairs.

"_And to the clear northern sky, I give you King Peter, the Magnificent."_

I carefully refastened the two little pieces of braided hair near my face, because I was afraid of the falling out. I powerwalked up the corridor, and no sound reached my ears. I arrived at the door and Aslan nodded towards me. Everybody was silent and I could hear my own ragged, nervous breathing and heartbeat. Orieus was standing beside the door and he nodded at me. I took a deep breath and stepped forward. I saw the thrones at the other end of the hall, and the looked incredible, particularly because of the light streaming in from the large stained glass window behind them.

I looked at all the different faces looking at me. I had to look up to most of them, but everybody was smiling. As I walked up the long aisle, the nervousness melted away and my shy smile disappeared as well. I was now smiling with my heart, not my mind. My eyes darted all around me, from the gorgeous flowers, to the beautiful colours all around me, to the most important things in my life: the Pevensies and Aslan. They were all sitting on their thrones and looking at me, smiling with utter excitement and glee. Su and Lu looked gorgeous, and Pete and Ed both looked very handsome in their tunics and leggings. After this I'm going to have to tease them about wearing tights…focus Rachel! I kept walking and smiling as I walk up the long aisle.

Lucy's POV

It was really strange having my crown on my head, but I rather liked it. I watched my brothers and sister getting their crowns put on as well, but I was really pleased because I was crowned first. Because I was the youngest, I didn't get to go first much, and I rather liked it!

Queen Lucy the Valiant of the Eastern Sea…it was very long, but it sounded great! I can't believe that I was a queen…I've wanted to be a princess since I was two years old, but a queen is even better! Everybody cheered for us as we sat down, and then I saw Rachie at the top of the aisle. I almost waved at her, but something told me that I shouldn't. She looked really pretty! I'm glad she wore the red dress, mainly because I was wearing blue and she looked better in red.

Her hair was curled like mine, but as she got closer to me, I saw that she had two little pieces of braided hair that looked like loops that were attached to a small bun at the back of her head. Her dress was like mine, but she had a design in white on hers and it had puffed sleeves down to her elbow. The sleeves were the same as mine and Su's. Her cape was white with a little golden lion symbol to fasten it around her neck. When the light caught her dress, the material had a little bit of a bronze sheen, (like mine except the sheen was light blue) and her dress made her slight curves look noticeable. Not like me, I didn't have them yet!

She really did look beautiful. She looked like a princess.

Rachel's POV

The centaurs proudly held their swords upright, and gold and red flags stood in the gaps between each centaur as they stood on either side of the aisle, and I smiled at them. Adrenaline filled my body, and I had to focus really hard on what I was doing. I smiled widely as I approached Aslan, went past him and towards my throne. It was smaller than the Pevensies, and not as detailed, but to me, it was beautiful. Although I was thankful to see that there was a scarlet pillow on top of the seat: no offence to it or anything, but if the cushion hadn't been there, I think my butt would be complaining to me after this. I smiled at them as I went past the Pevensies. Mr Tumnus had been putting the crowns on the Pevensies' heads (he had gotten a new scarf the same colour as the pillows and he even had the tassels on the end of it like the pillows had!), and Mr and Mrs Beaver had been carrying them on luxurious, deep green pillows with gold tassels on each corner of them. They didn't have an extra one, so I was a little bit worried that they wouldn't have one for me. But then I saw Ronny coming up the aisle with the same kind of pillow, only smaller and with a gorgeous crown on top of it.

The crown was made out of a white metal (it wasn't silver) and two intertwining vines made up the band of it. It wasn't a full circle like Susan's: it was more like Lucy's, because there was a slight gap between the two ends of the band. The vines had some tiny metal roses on them, which kind of reminded me of my mother, since her name was **Ros****é**-Anne. There were some sessile leaves attached to the vines, but at the front of the crown, there were bigger white roses made out of a porcelain-like substance and the sessile leaves were sparkling: they were made out of crystal. It was smaller than the Pevensie girls' crowns, but, to me, it was the most beautiful (well, I'm biased). But they were probably all equally beautiful in somebody else's eyes

"And to the mystical Cauldron Pool, I give you Princess Rachel, the Lionhearted," Aslan announced as Mr Tumnus placed my crown on my head. I smiled until I could smile no more, and a sense of pride filled my body. The Pevensies all looked at me smiling, and I gave them a wide smile back. I sat down on my throne, and looked out on all of the Narnians before me.

"Once a king, queen or princess of Narnia, always a king, queen or princess. May your wisdom grace us until the stars rain down from the heavens." Everybody joined Aslan in what he said next,

"Long live King Peter!"

"Long live King Edmund!

"Long Live Queen Susan!

"Long Live Queen Lucy!

"Long Live Princess Rachel!"

I let out a small laugh and an indescribable feeling filled my body. It was like happiness, joy, relief, excitement and enjoyment all mixed together! We sat there for a little while as they applauded, cheered and whistled, and then Aslan called Orieus, Seb, Juel and Ronny to the front. He knighted them and gave them badges, which he later gave to us and members of the government as well (they were to show that we were members of the government and advisors to it). Oreius was Sir Oreius of the Blade, Seb and Juel were Dame Sebbe-fiya and Juelanai of the Ocean and Ronny was Sir Ironfeather of the Skies.

Everyone clapped once more and then Aslan told us to come with him. We all got up and followed the Great Lion up the aisle, talking to practically Narnian present in the hall and watching them bow before us all. I kept on smiling, and it's a wonder that my cheeks didn't start hurting. When we finally exited the Great Hall and entered an empty corridor, we all let out sounds of relief and happiness and started hugging each other tightly. We didn't say a word but…we almost knew what we were all thinking.

"Come your majesties," Aslan told us from the top of the corridor. We walked in silence towards the Lion as he guided us towards a large balcony that over looked the large courtyard at the front, where our 'subjects' awaited us. From the sound I could hear drifting in from the courtyard, I could tell that there were a lot of them there, and I mean a _lot_. We stopped when we came close to the balcony door.

"You will come out here and stand whilst each of you give your speeches. I will give you the power to speak loudly and everyone will be able to hear you, but it will wear off whenever you speech has come to an end. This is the order it will go in: Lucy, Susan, Edmund, Rachel and then Peter. Good luck your majesties," the Great Lion told us. Oreo appeared and gave us our speeches, and they were all under three pages long, except for Pete's, his was longer. I was really nervous because I hate public speaking with a passion, and my voice would shake. I just prayed that it wouldn't happen to me, not now!

I took a shaky breath before stepping out onto the sunny balcony and I was met by a tsunami of cheering. I smiled down at my people and I thought 'wow, I'm going to have to get used to this. My people…it sounds so strange!' They filled the courtyard and beyond, and I broke out in a cold sweat over my speech. I clenched the pages that it was written on tightly in my hand.

"Welcome dear Narnians, today, we celebrate the dawn of a new age, and the coronation of our new ruler: Queen Lucy, Queen Susan, King Edmund, High King Peter and Princess Rachel," with every name he said the Narnians cheered, "I know that they will rule over you fairly, and they will led Narnia into it's greatest era!" they cheered once more, "and now, they will give a speech to their nation." Lucy was up first, and I would have thought she would have been scared or nervous, but she met her people with a smile, and a speech that was from her heart. Although she may have sounded immature, and used childish vocabulary, her wisdom shone through. It was a fantastic speech.

Susan was up next, and her vocabulary was a lot better than her younger sister. She told us of the journey that she had been on, one that had shown her that the impossible is possible, and not everything about life is found in books. It was incredibly inspiring.

Edmund took a deep breath and he looked a little bit pale. Then I remembered that he was the one who had betrayed Aslan and his siblings, and the Narnians hadn't taken well to it. But his speech was all about how sorry he was, and how he wished he had never done it. He told them that he had learnt the error of his ways and how we will become the best king he can be. He asked for forgiveness and he hoped that they could trust him again. It was a very emotional speech, and I had that odd prickling feeling behind my eyes that told me that tears were threatening to come. I kept them at bay, because I was next.

Everybody applauded as Ed ended his speech, and I took a deep breath. I looked over at Aslan and he nodded at me. I swallowed and began to speak.

"When I first came into Narnia, I really didn't like it. I mightn't have shown it, but I did in the corner of my mind. I was lonely, and I wanted to go home, or at least, where I thought home was at the time," I swallowed again, keeping my eyes on the pages in my hands, "but your rulers made me feel like I was a friend, and they have shown me the wonders of Narnia: everything from the natural beauty of Narnia, to the people. At first I felt like a complete stranger, but now, I feel like I have lived in your wonderful country for a much longer time than I actually have," I started to glance up from my speech every so often,

"But you, the Narnians, have shown me what Narnia is really about: it's a place that welcomes you as if it was your own home. No matter what you look like, no matter the species, you will not be rejected here. But it is your pure hearts, incredible hope and astonishing courage that will set you apart from all other nations, and it is you that made me feel at home. And I promise to do my best, as a princess of this country, to give it my all when it comes to helping you. I just want to thank everybody who has talked to me, helped me and supported me since I have come here, and I know where my home is now. Narnia is my home now." I started to look up for longer periods of time.

"While I was writing my speech, something golden caught my eye. I started to think about it, and as time went on, some things fell into place in my mind. 'What is gold?' 'What are it's properties?' And it all came to me in that moment. Gold does not tarnish. Gold does not rust. Gold is rare and precious. Gold is beautiful. And then I thought of the incredible army that we have in Narnia, because they are like gold." I addressed the army and it only.

"Will you? Will you rust and tarnish?" Somebody in the crowd shouted 'No!' and in a few minutes, everybody was crying 'No!' Aslan silenced them after a while, "No. We will not tarnish! We will not rust!" I nearly shouted those last few sentences. I was starting to get enthusiastic about this speech! I was now able to look up at them for almost very sentence, "and then you have the great citizens of this nation. They are rare and precious. They are also beautiful. So we must be like gold, never tarnishing, never rusting, being strong and beautiful. But unlike gold, we will must be strong. Thank you."

The crowd burst into applause like they had done after Lucy's, Susan's and Edmund's speech. I breathed a huge sigh of relief and my lips spread into a small smile. A huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders and I felt l free; free from having to speak in front of thousands of people, and free to enjoy the rest of today. Peter gave a long, but beautiful speech about his journey to where he was today, and how he would lead Narnia into its greatest age. Everybody cheered really loudly for their High King, and they cheered again when we went inside. Just like what we had done after the coronation, we all shared a hug.

"Lucy you did so well!" I congratulated her.

"So did you Rachel," she answered with a smile.

"It wasn't as good as everybody else's…but thanks Lu."

"Your speech was really good," Ed said.

"Yours was…really sweet Eddie."

"Well I do want to be able to gain their trust. I know what I did was really wrong so…I wanted to try and tell them about how sorry I was. And now that I'm a king, are you still going to call me that?"

"Would you prefer princess? Or I know, hothead!"

"Why hothead?"

"Because you have a bit of a temper."

"I have a bit of a temper?" he asked, his voice going up and octave. He looked at me with one eyebrow raised.

"See? There you go! Temper…"

"What should I call you then?" he asked, tapping his finger off his chin, "annoying thing, creature…may I go on?"

"If you wish, King Edmund, the destroyer of marshmallows!" I deepened my voice when I announced his title, before hitching up my dress and attempting to run away. But Ed was too quick, and wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me into the air.

"Ed!" I squealed as my legs kicked that air "put me down this instant!"

"Not until you say that you'll never bring up the marshmallow story again!"

"Never! It's too good a thing to blackmail you with!"

"Oh, so you want to play it that way then?" I craned my neck around to look at his face, which had a dark smirk on it.

"No don't you dare!" I shrieked as he dropped me down on the nearest sofa.

"Get her!" he cried.

"No, don't tickle me!" Ed and his siblings all thought it would be funny if they started to tickle me, and I was soon roaring with laughter. My chest was starting to hurt after a while! "Okay, okay, I'll never…ha ha! I'll never tell the marshmallow story again!" I said while they tickled me. They stopped and I let out a long sigh of relief, "that was just mean!" I exclaimed, looking at Edmund.

"If being mean meant that you can't blackmail me anymore, then it's fine with me," he smirked. I growled a little at this, but then Aslan came towards us.

"Dinner has been served in the Great Hall. Your presence is required as it is the coronation meal." Once again, we followed the Lion and entered the Great Hall. It had been changed since our coronation, and it looked even bigger since all of the people that had once stood within it had gone. A large, long table stretched across the middle of the hall, and many familiar faces were sitting in the seats along it. There was a table for us at our thrones. We all walked up and sat down on them as the food was served.

For starters we had a slice of melon and then a spicy soup that had a rose design on the surface of it. I smiled at it and felt the small roses on my crown, which still felt weird on my head, but it was a good weird. We had a sort of ice-cream just before our main course: I think it was champagne sorbet or something. For our main course we had chicken and some other roasted meats, potatoes and carrots, and to drink we were offered non-alcoholic wine, which Su, Ed and Pete all had. Myself and Lucy were content with iced sherbet. For dessert we had a choice of toffee cheesecake with fruit and cream, pavlova with mixed berries or molten chocolate, which was a dessert that had warm, runny chocolate in the middle but it was chewy on the inside. Decisions decisions! I chose the toffee cheesecake, but I was very cheeky and asked for some molten chocolate. Cavities here I come!

The meal was amazing and I at so much I felt like I was about to explode! Our table was taken away and so was the one in the middle, and some musicians were getting set up on the left side of the hall.

"_Oh crud,"_ I thought to myself, _"please Aslan, no dancing! Not tonight! I'll make a fool of myself!"_

The rest of the guests were milling about the hall, talking to people they knew and to us. When we weren't being talked to we spoke among ourselves, joking about stupid things and smiling. The band started playing some small tunes, but then Aslan came to the front.

"And now, our kings and queens will have the first dance." I silently laughed at them as they got up and made their way to the dance floor while I sat on my throne. Lucy and Ed danced together and Su danced with Pete. It was a slow dance, but the song was beautiful, unlike the kings' dancing. I suddenly had a brainwave and asked the nearest servant to get my IPod. It felt really weird asking someone to do stuff for me, but I'll probably have to get used to it. When they brought it from my room, I chose two songs and asked the servant to go over to the band and tell then to play them at some time.

The song ended and the Pevensies took new partners, and I found myself dancing with Lucy. It was a silly dance, and the tempo of the music was faster than the previous one. Everybody was doing a sort of lively jig, and now that everybody was dancing, I didn't feel so conscious of myself dancing. I did some of Twenty-First century club dancing, just that little body pop you do, but I mainly just danced with Lucy or sometimes Su when she had been pried away from future suitors. Then Aslan spoke again.

"Would all the rulers move into the centre of the hall please," everybody moved away and there was a space just for the five of us, "and would they choose their dancing partners now." I looked around and started to break out in a sort f sweat. I looked around and saw Susan with her partner already, and Pete was pointing towards a blonde girl. I saw Ed look over at Lu, and even she had a partner: it was Mr Tumnus. Then he looked at me. He gestured for me to come towards him and I did as I was told, because people weren't exactly forming a line to dance with me. Now Su on the other hand well…I think I saw some guy in the corner drooling over her at one point. I looked at the position the female was meant to take, and they were all different. It must be a sort of freestyle. The music started and my first song started to play.

_Oh perilous place,_

_Walk backwards toward you,_

_Blink disbelieving eyes chilled to the bone,_

_Most visibly brave,_

_No apprehended gloom,_

_First to take this foot to virgin snow,_

I smiled lightly as the song started and it sounded very different coming from the instruments that looked like they had come from my world, only distorted and a lot stranger: there was something that looked like a guitar but it had twenty strings! Ed smiled back at me as I put one hand into his and we both put our arms around each others waist. We swayed awkwardly.

_I am a magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment,_

_I am a wunderkind ohwowoh,_

_I lift the envelope pushed far enough to believe this,_

_I am a princess on the way to my throne,_

_Destined to serve,_

_Destined to roam._

I started to hum the tune to myself and got lost in my own little world. I suddenly came out of my trance and looked at Ed, who had a weird look on his face.

"What?" I chuckled.

"Nothing, it's just that you look…really um, nice tonight," I smiled at his comment, "and so are Lu and Su," he added quickly.

_Oh ominous place,_

_Spellbound and un-childproofed,_

_My least favourite chill to bear alone,_

_Compatriots in place,_

_They'd cringe if I told you,_

_Our best back pocket secret: our bond full blown,_

I shuffled uncomfortably, "My arms are starting to hurt."

"Let's switch then," he said, while moving both of his hands to my waist. I put mine around his neck.

_I am a magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment,_

_I am a wunderkind ohwowoh,_

_I am a pioneer naïve enough to believe this,_

_I am a princess on the way to my throne,_

_Destined to seek,_

_Destined to know,_

"You know," I said to him, "the last time I danced like this I was kidnapped by a Minotaur serving the White Witch. That's not gonna happen again, is it?"

Ed smiled his famous smile and chuckled, "I don't think so. We won the battle, didn't we?"

"No…we did? I don't quite remember that…I always did wonder why we were celebrating," We both smiled at each other and I pulled him into a hug, "she's never gonna come back Ed, never ever ever! Just remember that, okay?"

"And you can forget all about Deimos now. He's gone, and he's never going to hurt you or any of us again, okay?"

I nodded.

_Most beautiful place__  
__Reborn and blown off roof__  
__My view: about face whether, great will be done_

_I am a magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment__  
__I am a wunderkind ohwowoh__  
__I am a ground breaker naïve enough to believe this__  
__I am a princess on the way to my throne_

"Hear that Ed? 'I am a princess on the way to my throne,'" I sang softly, "no mention of 'king' in there."

"I do have the power to change those lyrics, you know."

"No, you don't have the copyright to it," I smiled again.

"Well neither do you!"

"Well played my friend."

_I am a magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment_

_I am a wunderkind ohwowoh_

_I am the Joan of Arc and smart enough to believe this_

_I am a princess on the way to my throne_

I put my head down on his shoulder, one side of my face against his body as we swayed some more. I closed my eyes and felt as if I was in a dream.

_Destined to reign, destined to roam_

_Destined to reign, destined to roam_

_Ohahahoohah_

I opened my eyes again, almost sleepily, and saw almost onyx-brown eyes boring into mine. My eyes darted around the young king's face before settling on his beautiful eyes…could you say something about a boy was beautiful? I really didn't care right now if you could or not. His eyes…I could feel them looking right into my soul. It was as if they were hypnotising me, and I really hoped Ed didn't mind me looking into his eyes for so long: he certainly wasn't making any sort of effort to stop me. We just stood there, swaying, in our own little world, looking into each others eyes…

_Ohahahoohah_

_Destined to reign, destined to roam_

_Destined to reign, destined to roam_

The song suddenly ended and everybody in the hall started to clap. The noise surprised us both, and we jumped apart. Blush found its way to my cheeks.

"That was a very nice dance," Ed said awkwardly.

"Yeah, it was," I replied.

"You're-you're very good at it," he stuttered out.

"Oh please, I couldn't dance to save my life!" I laughed, trying to lift the cloud of awkwardness off us.

"Yeah, me too," he replied, fidgeting.

"Well I'd better-"

"Yeah so should I."

"But I'll see you later okay?"

"Yeah." And we walked away from each other. I was relieved to get away from the awkwardness, but I felt a little bit disappointed that we couldn't have danced together again.

"_Rachel, what are you thinking?" my sanity yelled at me, "he's one of your best friends, not to mention that he's a king! You can't have feelings towards him!"_

"But I don't. I-I know I don't. And I know I can't!" I shouted back.

"_Well then convince me that you don't."_

"I'm telling you I don't!"

"_Yeah, I believe you,"_ my sanity said, it's 'voice' going up an octave.

"Oh be quiet. Go bother my conscience or something," I said, trying to shut the voice out of my mind.

"Rachie!" Lu called over to me, "isn't this party great? I think its fantastic, and I love the little fruit-on-a-stick things. Do you like fruit on a stick? There's also chocolate, and iced sherbet, which I both really really like, and-"

"Whoa! Calm down there little miss gutsy!" I said, tickling her stomach which made her laugh. I remembered what she had just said about the food, "did you say there was chocolate?" my eyes got wide at the mention of the sweet brown substance. Lucy laughed again, which made me laugh, and she grabbed my hand and lead me towards the chocolate.

"How can you eat so much?" I asked the Valiant Queen, licking my fingers as I spoke.

She laughed, "I don't know!" she patted her stomach.

"Hey it makes a sound!" I said, tapping her stomach and hearing the hollow sound again.

"Stop it!" she squealed, "you'll make me sick if you keep making me laugh!" she let out a long sigh, "what about you? How do you eat so much?"

I put my voice down into a serious, yet silly tone, "Well your highness, I have this theory that all the fat that's meant to go on my stomach actually goes to my thighs: they're huge!" I poked them through my dress, "see that? Flub flub flub…" I said, poking my legs with each 'flub.'

She smiled back but then it quickly left her face, "When was the last time you saw Aslan?" I racked my brains for a minute before looking through the crowd to see if the Great Lion was still here. But since more people were taller than me, (which is practically everybody) I couldn't see anything! So I went up to my throne and scanned the room for a glint of golden fur, or a swish of a lion's tail. But neither of those things graced my eyes. Lucy walked up and appeared by my side.

"I can't see him," she said sadly.

"Me neither," I replied.

Lucy looked down at the floor sadly and I felt really bad for her. I wrapped my arms around her as she tried to hold back the tears. I rubbed her arm and then she looked over her shoulder and saw something interesting. She started wriggling out of my grip.

"Lucy, what are you doing?" I watched her run out onto the balcony.

"He's over there Rachie," she said as she placed her hands down on the stone railing. I power-walked over to her and saw a small dot moving away from the castle on the beach of Mermaid Cove.

"Oh Lu, I'm so sorry," I said. The youngest Pevensie had always been the closest to Aslan, and I knew how much she admired and loved him.

"We'll see him again," a voice said from behind us. We turned around to see Mr Tumnus standing behind us.

"When?"

"In time…you mustn't press him…he isn't a tame lion…"

"But he is good," Lucy said. She was so innocent and pure…I don't think she could find a fault in a lot of people. She wouldn't gossip about anybody and she wouldn't hurt anybody. Only a person with a heart as cold as the Jadis' winter: or maybe even colder, could hate her. Don't tell Susan this, but I think I'm closer to Lucy than her. Su could be a little bit...well, moody and a tad too serious. Wait, did I really just say 'tad'? Who says 'tad' anymore, my granddad? Oh, speaking of my granddad, I think I will have to fill you in on what has happened with my family back in the Twenty-First century…

"_But what about my family Aslan? My aunt and uncle, my grandparents…how are they going to feel when they find out that both my grandmother and I have disappeared off the face of the earth?"_

"_Don't worry dear child, but what I have done to them might upset you."_

"_Aslan, I can handle it. Please, just tell me what you've done to them."_

"_Once you and your grandmother departed the Twenty-First century, I completely wiped their memory of you. Everything you had, everything you touched, it's all gone. They never-"_

"_Knew I existed," I finished off._

"_I'm sorry Miss Elfin, but it is for the best that nobody in your world remembers you. I am truly sorry."_

"_No, it's okay Aslan. I knew that when I smashed that vase that there would be consequences, and this is the price I have to pay for being here."_

"_But you are upset."_

"_Of course I am, but," I looked at the white stone in my hand, "I know that they'll be with me, even when I'm the only one who remembers them."_

"_You do know that when you hold that stone and see your mother in it, you can use your magic to project her out of there for a brief time?"_

"_Really?" I smiled brightly._

"_However, she won't be human. She will be like a ghost."_

"_But she'll be able to talk to me?"_

"_And vice-versa." I smiled at the white stone which had an image of my mother in it._

"_You know, the Pevensies are lucky."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because at least they have parents that remember them."_

"_Remember Miss Elfin, time flows differently in Narnia to other worlds."_

"_Yes I know, but what has this got to do with the Pevensies parents?"_

"_All will become clear in time. You still have the pendant I gave you, don't you?"_

"_Yes, and I'm planning on wearing it at the coronation." I held two of the corners of the necklace between m y index finger and thumb. 'Of course I am, my magic is in that thing!' I thought to myself._

"_The Sleep of the Living Dead…it is still present within the locket?"_

"_Yes, why?"_

"_All in-"_

"_Good time," I finished for him._

"_One last thing, dear one. In that stone you have, there is another power: a dark one. You must remember that the things that are most precious to you never really leave you, and that true power never really comes from objects..."_

I looked towards the horizon and held my necklace with my finger and thumb absentmindedly as Lu and Mr Tumnus talked for a little while. I left them to talk and went back to the hall.

"Care to dance?" Pete asked, extending his hand towards me.

"I would love to," I said, putting my small hand into his rather large one.

"Look at the size difference!" I pointed out, putting my hand up beside his, "my hand can almost fit into the palm of yours!"

"No, you're cheating," he said, moving my hand do that our wrists were touching, "that's better."

"Well they're still humongous compared to mine," I said.

"They're really weird," he said, looking at my hand.

"Oi! I am small so therefore I have insanely small hands and feet otherwise my whole body would be out of proportion! I'd fall over if my hands were your size!"

"And so are your eyes," he said, looking into them, "they're red near your pupil and then they go green."

"Red? Are you being flippin' serious? You need glasses my friend."

"Well they are!"

"No, they're light brown," I answered.

"And they change colour sometimes."

"Oh would you bog off!" I said, laughing slightly, "I feel like a freak!"

"You are a freak though!"

"And I'm very proud of it. You wish that you were as freaky as I am. Freaky is the new cool."

"Oh yes, I'd love to be like you."

"Who wouldn't? I mean, I'm Rachel Elfin, freak extraordinaire," he started laughing, which made me laugh, and then we both took a laughing fit.

"What's so funny?" I asked him while laughing.

"I honestly don't know! What are you laughing at?"

"I'm laughing at you!"

"We are such children," he said with a smile in his voice.

"We _are_ children," I told him.

"Well, you still are but I know that I've grown up."

I sent him a small, sad smile, "You've been forced to grow up. You're much older than you actually are."

"It hasn't been easy," he said, swallowing hard, "oh Rach, we've all been forced to grow up."

"Except for Lu."

"I envy her for that. Sometimes I wish that I could be like her, if you understand what I mean."

"Yeah…I do. But c'mon Pete, we all want to be a kid again. We don't want to have responsibilities and the hardest thing we had to do was to pick what toy we wanted or what crayon we wanted."

"And now I'm a king," he looked longingly into the distance.

"And I'm a princess. Pete, we have our duties now. But at least we'll be able to do them together. Okay?" I pulled him into a hug as he swallowed hard again. We just held each other there for a little while, and I felt a tiny drop of water hit my shoulder. I pulled away and saw Pete with glassy eyes and a small smile on his face. "Are you alright?" I asked, rubbing his back lightly.

"Yeah," he said quietly, "I'm fine."

I smiled back at him, "Let's go have some fun, okay? You can laugh at my awful dancing."

"Sounds good," he said. I grabbed both of his hands and led him to the dance floor, cheering him up as soon as we started dancing because I tripped over the hem of my dress and fell over, taking him with me. We lay on the floor for ages laughing and gaining quite a few disapproving stares. But we didn't care, because even though we were the High King and Princess of Narnia, we were still just kids. And now more than ever, we had to laugh at childish things, otherwise we'd never be able to.

Because we were growing up too quickly.

I walked out on the balcony after about an hour of dancing, smiling my head off. My feet ached from constant twirling and tripping and tapping, but I enjoyed it. I danced with Pete for a while, and then Su and Lu, and finally Ed. It was slightly awkward at first, but that was to be expected. Ed spun me around so many times I didn't know where I was! I put my hands on the stone railing of the balcony and looked out over the Eastern Sea and Mermaid Cove that were both being bathed in golden light from the magnificent sunset.

'This place is…indescribable!' I thought to myself, 'I can't believe it's my home now…' I just looked off towards the horizon and saw the different colours in the sky, "Beautiful…'

"Admiring the view?" a voice said from behind me. I turned around and saw Pete had asked me the question and his siblings were with him. I nodded.

"Gorgeous isn't it?" Su said.

"Absolutely stunning," I replied.

"Mind if we join you?" Lu asked. I nodded my head once more. Lu stood by my right-hand side, and Su was on my left. Ed was beside Su and Pete was beside Lu. We stood in silence for a while.

"He's gone now," I said quietly, but loud enough for them to hear me.

"But it's not going to be forever! We'll see him again!" Lucy piped up.

"And we'll be waiting for him here, together," Su said, slipping her hand into mine. Lucy did the same, slipping her right hand into my left one and her left into Pete's. Su grabbed Ed's hand and we stood in a line, looking over our country.

"Together…" I thought to myself, "I hope to Aslan that we will be…"

I smiled at the people that had become my family in the last few months. I hadn't had a proper family in the past few years, with my Dad rarely coming home, my mother missing and living with my aunt and uncle. They had also become my closest friends, and I felt like I could trust them; particularly Lucy. Trust was almost a foreign concept to me, and now that I had people I could trust whole-heartedly.

I let out a shaky sigh and then smiled, tightening my grip on Lu and Su's hands. "Enjoy this while you can Rach, because in a few years, you know that everything, everything you know…" I sucked in a deep breath to stop myself from shaking.

"Everything you know will change."

I looked up towards the horizon and watched the last sliver of the sun disappear behind the glistening Eastern Sea. One small tear escaped my eye and fell to the ground as the world slowly faded into the darkness of night.

* * *

In a forest near Cair Paravel, a large, shady figure lay undetected from their cover in the undergrowth as they watched the rulers of Narnia walk out on to the balcony and look out over the sea. Their eyes were fixed on the girl in the middle, and a sly look was etched on the figure's face face.

"You were lucky this time Guardian, but I assure you, I will be ready for you, and the next time we meet, one of us shall breathe our last! And I will…win!" the figure yelled the last word into the air and then turned away and walked into the forest, "Come," he said to two smaller figures. They accompanied the larger one deep into the woodland until nothing but the wind and the trees would be their acquaintances.

**A/N Well that's it! That's Two Kings, Two Queens and a Guardian finished! But don't worry, I'm already writing the sequel, but it won't be up for a little while…just keep looking up my profile to see if it's up or not, or look out for it! The title is 'The Lionhearted Guardian – The Golden Age.' Oh, and a picture of Rachel's crown is up on my profile, but it's just a rough idea of it. Just add the extra details on if you want to. Until then, please review because it'll be the last time you can on this story and I'll see you soon my beautiful, amazing readers!**

**Xx Elemental Angel xX xoxoxoxoxo**


	29. Very important notice!

Hey guys! Just letting you know that The Lionhearted Guradian-The Golden Age is finally up on Fanfiction! Yay! So check it out, review it, do what you wanna do with it and enjoy! Thanks!

Xx Elemental Angel xX


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